Politics
Jonathan Not APC Member, Says Party’s National Vice-Chairman
The National Vice Chairman, North-West of All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, has said former President Goodluck Jonathan is not a member of the party.
Lukman, disclosed this in a telephone interview with The PUNCH at a time media reports are suggesting that some leaders of the ruling party are dragging Jonathan into the APC presidential race.
He said he found the news touting Jonathan as the party’s joker or anointed candidate annoying.
He said, “I can tell you this straight away. Jonathan is not a member of the APC as far as this party is concerned. What is being discussed in the media is very strange to many of us. We are not even aware that anybody has bought form in the name of Jonathan and we have closed the sales of forms.
“All those media speculations, yes we know everything can be possible in this country. But as far as this party is concerned and some of us are there in critical structure, that is not going to be possible.
“You can quote me on this that I said it is not going to be possible. Anybody who is talking about it is just talking nonsense.”
When reminded that there are still some high ranking members of the party and in the presidency who are still keen on his candidacy, Lukman disclosed that he was unaware of it.
“I am not aware whether the chairman or any member of the National Working Committee makes such a statement. But where such a statement was made, it must have been done out of error. It is not possible.
“Jonathan is not a member of APC as far as we know. Besides, our membership in the political party is not a secret. Feel free to quote me please,” he said.
Lukman slammed media reports saying the party has settled for consensus, saying the APC is willing to give every presidential aspirant a level playing field.
As of the time of filing this report, the camp of the former president could not be reached for reaction.
Efforts made to contact Jonathan’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, proved abortive.
He neither picked the calls of our correspondent nor replied his sms.
A Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, had ruled on Friday that the former President is eligible to contest the 2023 presidential election.
The presiding judge, Justice Isa Hamma Dashen, gave the judgment in a suit marked FHC/YNG/CS/86/2022.
Dashen also held that Jonathan’s right to vie for the office of president again cannot be stopped by any retroactive law.
-Punch.
The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Ngozi Odu, issuing them a seven-day notice to respond to allegations of gross misconduct.
The Assembly cited eight specific allegations of gross misconduct as the basis for the move.
This is the third time Fubara and Odu would be facing impeachment proceedings from the Assembly since coming to office in 2023.
Attempts to impeach them in 2023 and 2025, amid political feuds between the Governor and his predecessor and erstwhile political god-father, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had been halted by presidential intervention.
Here are the allegations below:
1. Reckless and unconstitutional expenditure of public funds
2. Unconstitutional misappropriation of public funds
3. Hindering the Rivers Assembly from performing its constitutional duties
4. Illegal appointments of persons without screening by the House of Assembly as provided by the Constitution
5. Seizure of salaries and funds meant for Assembly members
6. Seizure of salaries of the clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Emeka Amadi
7. Refusal to implement provisions of the Constitution on financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary
8. Withholding of funds meant for the running of the Rivers House of Assembly Service Commission and hindering its activities
Lilian Adebayo, the wife of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, has said that the party will unseat the ruling All Progressive Party at the 2027 election if Nigerians are true to themselves.
Mrs Adebayo made this assertion known on Wednesday during an interview with journalists after an event in Abuja.
According to her, the opposition party has overcome its crisis after the expulsion of its former chairman, Shehu Gabam and others.
She said Nigerians should vote the APC out in the 2027 general election due to the hardship the party has plunged citizens into.
“There is always a crisis in the party; the SPD has been able to handle its own. The problems in the party have been resolved.
“He has a great chance of winning the election if Nigerians are honest with themselves. If Nigerians think that the ones they consistently vote for would move the country forward, they live in denial,” she concerning the husband.
Recall that SDP recently expelled Gabam and other party executives.
The party’s state chairmen on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the police to investigate Gabam over alleged misappropriation.
In a significant political move, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Mbah announced his decision during a televised broadcast in Enugu after weeks of speculation.
He said, “Today, after a long reflection, we have made the decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join the All Progressives Congress.”
Mbah explained that his decision to join the PDP was informed by the need to reshape Enugu and reorganise the politics of the state.
“Today, I stand before you to announce a break from the past and to share a decision that will shape the road ahead. This concerns our values, how we organize ourselves politically and how we secure the future of our project and our people.
“Leadership sometimes demands painful decisions in the service of higher principles and goals. And there comes a time, when everyone must make a bold choice to determine their destiny.”
Ahead of the governor’s defection, all members of his cabinet had on joined the ruling party.
Governor Mbah’s Senior Media Aide, Dan Nwomeh, confirmed the mass defection in a video posted on his social media handles on Monday. In the video, several government officials were seen openly declaring their allegiance to the APC, chanting praises for President Bola Tinubu and affirming their commitment to the new party.
“Enugu State Cabinet Members join the APC with full chest along with Governor PN Mbah,” Nwomeh stated.
The officials, including commissioners and top aides, could be heard in the video declaring, “We are now in APC; tomorrow is here; it is APC all the way; it is Jagaban all the way; from top to bottom.”
The collective defection marks a significant political shift in Enugu State, which has been a PDP stronghold since 1999.
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