A chieftain of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress and former National Vice Chairman, South-South, Hilliard Eta, has said that former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has no place in the party and will be humiliated should he come out for president under its platform.
Eta using General Yakubu Gowon (retd.) as an example said the former Head of State who was cajoled by some political hawks to come out for presidency was later humiliated. He therefore advised Jonathan to learn from it.
Eta said this on Monday during an interview on AriseTV.
He said, “When it comes to the issue of whether the former president Jonathan is going to ‘become’ the consensus candidate of our party, I will like to say that something of this nature has happened in the past where certain hawks within the political system cajoled General Gowon to come out in those days, assuring him and giving him all manner of assurances; we are all living witnesses to the fact that when General Gowon came into the frame, he was roundly humiliated at the level of his local government area.
“That should send a clear message to the former president that he has no place in the APC; that those who are cajoling him are doing so for whatever agenda or interest that they have and we cannot be too sure because this is a season of speculations and gossip, we cannot be too sure about things read in the social media sometimes in the mainstream media about his wanting to come to the APC.
“Just few days ago when the Peoples Democratic Party had its convention, the former president took a very privileged position in the programme of events, his photograph was prominent in the brochure of the PDP.”
Eta added that Jonathan as a consensus candidate would not be adopted by the APC as four of the presidential aspirants are his (Eta) personal friends and they are not interested in a consensus candidate.
“The National Vice Chairman of our party from the North-West zone has come out to say the former president is not a member of our party and now the presidency has also issued a statement that the president knows absolutely nothing about the former president becoming the consensus candidate of the party. We have 23 aspirants and I know more than four of them who are personal friends of mine, who are not interested in consensus.
“Former President Goodluck Jonathan is not a member of our party and those using his name for speculations and gossips are not part of our party; they can say all they may but Goodluck Jonathan will not be the presidential candidate of our party, I can assure you,” Eta said.