Jonathan jets to Italy as APC finalises plans for Convention

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has left Nigeria for Lake Como in Italy as the All Progressives Congress intensifies plans for its convention on June 6, 2022.

Jonathan who arrived Italian lakeside resort near Milan at the weekend is attending this year’s high-level advisory board meeting of the European corporate council on Africa and the Middle East, ECAM Council.

His aids say his absence in faraway Italy should tell sceptics about the level of disdain the former leader has for sponsors of the political schemings said to be the handiwork of so-called fifth columnists from the northern part of the country.

At the weekend, the National Vice Chairman, North-West of All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, said the former President is not a member of the party and that the question of him being a presidential candidate has no leg to stand on.

Lukman who disclosed this in a telephone interview with The PUNCH said he found the news touting Jonathan as the party’s joker or anointed candidate annoying.

“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. 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.

Lake Como, in Northern Italy’s Lombardy region, is an upscale resort area known for its dramatic scenery, set against the foothills of the Alps. The lake is shaped like an upside-down Y, with three slender branches that meet at the resort town of Bellagio. At the bottom of the southwest branch lies the city of Como, home to Renaissance architecture and which is a popular wedding location for many around the world.