Out of respect for his former boss, the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, said he may drop his presidential ambition if the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, declares to run for the position.
Mr Mohammed disclosed this on Sunday night while featuring on “Politics Today” a programme on Channels Television.
The governor served as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the Jonathan administration. He was a senator when he was appointed minister in 2010.
After months of speculations, there are strong indications that the former president, who ruled the country on the ticket of the PDP between 2010 and 2015 when he was defeated by the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari, may join aspirants under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the coming days.
Mr Jonathan, at a meeting with some youth on Friday in Abuja, asked them to watch out for his next political moves.
“Yes, you are calling on me to come and declare for the 2023 presidency, yes I can’t tell you am declaring, the political process is ongoing, just watch out.
“But the key role you must play is to pray that Nigeria gets a president that will carry the young people along and work very hard to see that some of the country’s problems raised are dealt with.
“I believe that collectively, we can work together,’’ the former president said.
But Mr Mohammed said if Mr Jonathan joins the race, it would pose a big problem for him.
“He is one of those persons I respect most in this country. He is the most respected person I have because I emerged and came to national limelight through him. Certainly I have come to establish a family relationship with him and to me, he cannot be in the race and I will be in the race, out of respect and modesty.
“I have given him enough time and he has urged me to go ahead and I have gone ahead and even gotten another burden now; the mandate of my elders to continue. So if Jonathan is running, it is a very big problem to me,” he said.
Mr Mohammed, who was ‘endorsed’ alongside former Senate President, Bukola Saraki as the northern presidential consensus candidates of the PDP by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) on Friday, said the outcome of the exercise has boosted his chances against other aspirants.
