2023: ‘You can’t leave Nigeria until you accept our N100 million APC form,’ Fulani Group threatens Jonathan

Hours after former president Goodluck Jonathan publicly rejected the All Progressive Congress’ (APC) presidential expression of interest and nomination forms, Secretary of the Fulani Group, Usman Mohammed, says the former president must accept it.

The group, which is an extraction of the nomadic Fulani and the Almajiri communities, stormed the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja on Monday evening to procure the forms.

The news of Jonathan purchasing APC presidential forms got Nigerians pondering if he was truly considering a return to Aso Rock on the platform of the ruling party.

Jonathan has dissociated himself from the purported APC presidential form, describing it as an insult.

But hours after Jonathan’s denial, Mohammed said that the nomination was meant to be a surprise gift to the ECOWAS special envoy.

The Fulani Group secretary stated that if the ex-president turns down the nomination form as he threatened, they will be left with no option but to force him to accept it.

“I believe you are aware of how we blocked his office in the FCT during our rallies in Kano, Suleja, Minna, and Abuja, and forced him to come out to address journalists. It is the same approach,” Punch quoted Mohammed to have said.

“If he doesn’t accept our form, we won’t let him out of Nigeria,” he said.

According to him, the Fulani pastoralists opted for the choice of Jonathan out of the almost 30 APC presidential candidates because of his patriotism and love for Nigeria.

Mohammed explained that his people were compelled to sell their livestock to raise money for the nomination forms because of the development he brought into the Fulani and Almajiri schools.

“Jonathan is a Christian with a heart of Muslim. When he was president, he supported Almajiri schools, took care of our children, and fed them in many Northern States.

“The money for the nomination form was contributed by Fulani cattle rearers in the country. We saw some media reporting Miyetti Allah or Northern Youths. That’s not true.

“Besides, he is the most experienced of all the APC presidential candidates. None of the other candidates has ever been president of the country, including Tinubu.

“He is a man who loves Nigerians and loves other people’s children more than his own. We need him to continue with his Almajiri school project, especially in Kano where we have over three million of these students. None of them bought uniforms with their money,” he said.