The All Progressives Congress, APC, has come out to deny reports that it is planning to field ex-President GEJ as its candidate in the 2023 Presidential election.

Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni recently revealed this to the BBC Hausa service, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, the rumours are obviously lies, and it is the handiwork of detractors that should be ignored.

He added that if people are judging because of APC’s recent visit to GEJ during his birthday, they only attended because of his capacity as a former President of Nigeria.

His words, “Those peddling such information, they are afraid. But for now, there is nothing in the APC which has anything to do with the aspiration for 2023.”

“Even if someone wants to base assumption on our recent visit to him during his birthday, we were there because of his capacity as a former President of Nigeria. ”

“Again, even if there is nothing, when we are talking of peaceful coexistence, we must give credit to former President Jonathan on the issue of peace. How he accepted defeat in 2015 and resigned to fate. That has qualified him to be a statesman and he is now among our fathers.”

“Our visit to Jonathan was pronounced because of his status as a former president, that could be why some may think there was something beneath.”

“There are numerous of such visits ,to leaders of PDP, APC, why are others not being mentioned but Jonathan?”

“Even in America where we got this democracy, I’ve not seen where people are being confined to a limit.”

“You are talking of democracy and at the same time talking of giving him, don’t forget even when President Buhari went to revalidate party membership in Daura, he said it is the people at the grassroots that will select leaders upwards. That no one should expect to be crowned from Abuja. This has shown that in APC now, it is from the lower level upwards. Not that people would be imposed from the top.”