Publicly Dissociate Yourself From PDP Presidential Candidacy, Wike-Backed PDP Tells Jonathan

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has called on former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to publicly dissociate himself from reports alleging that he is being positioned as the party’s presidential candidate.

The group, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, dismissed reports of a planned convention to affirm Jonathan as the PDP presidential candidate, describing them as false, misleading, and unauthorized.

According to the statement, the attention of the party had been drawn to “misleading information and unfounded reports” circulating in some quarters regarding an alleged move to adopt Jonathan as the party’s standard bearer.

“The Party wishes to categorically state that no such convention, meeting, or process has been scheduled, approved, or endorsed by the leadership or any recognised organ of the Peoples Democratic Party,” the statement read.

The faction urged party members, supporters, and the general public to disregard the reports, insisting that they were designed to create confusion within the political space.

It further stated that the PDP had already concluded all its primary elections, including governorship, State House of Assembly, National Assembly, and presidential primaries, in line with the Electoral Act, INEC guidelines, and the party’s constitution.

“All such exercises across the country were peacefully conducted and properly monitored and supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),” the statement added.

The group, however, called on Jonathan to publicly distance himself from the alleged moves in order to preserve his reputation and protect the integrity of the democratic process.

“In view of this development, we respectfully call on former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to publicly dissociate himself from this charade in order to protect the integrity of the democratic process and preserve the credibility he earned while serving the nation,” the statement said.

The faction also called on security agencies to investigate the source of the reports and prosecute those behind what it described as attempts to create political tension in the country.