Bayelsa chair: Jonathan not yet APC member

The chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Dennis Otiotio, says former President Goodluck Jonathan has not joined the party.

Otiotio, however, said the former president is at liberty to join the APC.

The Bayelsa APC chairman said this in an interview with NAN on Tuesday.

Otiotio, who spoke against the backdrop of moves to draft Jonathan into the 2023 presidential race, said the Bayelsa APC was not aware of the ex-president’s membership.

He said: “The former president is not yet a registered member of APC. He is free to join any party of his choice.

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“We are open and willing to receive him into our fold, as a political party desirous of winning elections, the only way to go is by admitting people into the party.”

A support group had on Monday in Abuja purchased the APC presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for the former president to contest the 2023 presidential election on the APC platform.

However, in a statement issued on Monday night by Mr Ikechukwu Eze, the Media Adviser to Jonathan, the former president dissociated himself from the move, noting that he did not authorise the purchase of the forms.

The ex-president’s media aide added that Jonathan rejected the APC presidential nomination forms as he was not consulted on the procurement.

The Star