Omokri also said he knew the APC nomination form was bought without the knowledge of his former principal
By Kehinde Okeowo
Reno Omokri, a former aide of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has argued that the APC nomination form purchased for his former boss was aimed at painting him in a bad light.
Malam Ibrahim Abdullahi, leader of the nomadic Fulani pastoralists and Almajiri communities, who picked the form on behalf of his organisation said they did it so that the former president can complete what he started.
According to him, Jonathan was the first Nigerian president who found it expedient to attend to the plight of the Almajiri community.
Reacting to the development through his Twitter, Reno Omokri insisted that if his former boss wanted to contest the 2023 presidential race, he would have done so publicly.
ALSO READ: Jonathan: I didn’t authorise anyone to buy APC nomination form for me
The Lawyer also said he knew that the purchase of the N100 million Nomination and Expression of Interest forms of the APC for the former president was done without his knowledge.
Omokri wrote, “Jonathan has nothing to do with the reported purchase of some forms. He has an official spokesman and his own staff. He is a man of honour and will not do anything surreptitiously. The media and the public should be guided.
“I could have denied this hours ago, but I deliberately declined to watch his enemies and mine dance deliriously at the thought that they’d demystified @GEJonathan. There is no Nigerian alive that has the national and international credibility that HE GEJ has.”
Jonathan has since rejected the offer, stating that he was not aware that anyone bought him a nomination form and that he didn’t authorise it.
He also corroborated Reno Omokri’s assertion that he would have made it public if he was planning to contest the 2023 presidential election.
Jonathan’s position was conveyed through a statement released by his Media Adviser, Mr Ikechukwu Eze, on Monday.
The statement read, “It has come to our notice that a group has purportedly purchased Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms of the APC in the name of former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
“We wish to categorically state that Dr Jonathan was not aware of this bid and did not authorise it.
“We want to state that if the former president wanted to contest an election, he would make his intentions clear to the public and will not enter through the back door,”
The statement further expressed appreciation for the overwhelming request by a cross-section of Nigerians for the former president to make himself available for the 2023 presidential election.
“Buying a presidential aspiration form in the name Dr Jonathan without his consent, knowing the position he had held in this country, is considered an insult to his person.
“The general public is therefore advised to disregard it,” the statement also added.