Supporters of former president, Goodluck Jonathan, have commenced grassroots mobilisation in the South East and South South for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu.
The former president’s supporters, who are members of Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN) had in November 2022, endorsed Bola Tinubu.
While flagging off the campaign, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the group said the next president must emerge from the southern part of the country.
CNPDN was among the first southern coalition to openly urge former president Jonathan to run for office on APC platform.
The coalition had also involved prominent southern leaders to prevail on Jonathan to join the race. Jonathan, who promised to consult widely, reneged at the last minute, paving the way for Tinubu to emerge as APC presidential candidate.
The coalition National Secretary, Francis Wainwei, who hails from Bayelsa State, while briefing newsmen, said they resolved to support and vote Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.
Wainwei said leaders and members of the coalition were simply aligning themselves with the position of the Northern Governors’ Forum of APC and the Southern Governors’ Forum, who had declared for a southern president in 2023.
He said the reason for the support of southern president was to promote national unity, equity, fairness and justice.
The coalition, which is non-partisan, also called on its members in Rivers State to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Siminalayi Fubara.
“We are supporting the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State because of the infrastructure development built by the current government in the state.”
