Any party that fields Jonathan’ll lose —APC

The All Progressives Congress  on Wednesday continued its war of words  with  the Presidency and the  Peoples Democratic Party over the suitability  of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan  for the presidential election.
While the APC believes that  fielding  Jonathan as a candidate would be suicidal for any party, the Presidency and the PDP argued  that he remains the best to contest and win a presidential poll in the country at present.
The latest war of attrition  was spurred by   Tuesday’s invitation  to the President by the APC Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, to join the newly formed political party if he was fed up with the crises  in  the PDP.
Akande  had said,  “We (the APC) don’t even close our door to the PDP. If Jonathan is tired of the crises in the PDP, he is welcome in the APC.”

The Presidency however reacted immediately  to the  invitation, saying   it was  an acknowledgment by the APC  of Jonathan’s sterling leadership qualities.
But in  a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, the Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,  said it was bad  that the Presidency   did not read the statement credited to Akande before reacting.
According to him,     the invitation was not a compliment.
Mohammed  said, “When we say the man (Jonathan) should come and join us, we mean that he should come and see how to run a crisis- free party.
“But unfortunately, his handlers like himself, are unable to read between the lines.
“Fielding President Jonathan will be disastrous and it would amount to political suicide. The PDP itself also knows that it would be a double jeopardy if it fields the President in 2015.
“This is because, having lost the moral ground to face the electorate in 2015, the performance of the President since the past years is even appalling.”
But the Presidency on Wednesday  reiterated its position that  the APC’s  invitation of Jonathan was an indication of  his national acceptance.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, told one of correspondents that the Presidency viewed the invitation as a compliment.
Abati insisted that   the  invitation had shown clearly that the leaders of the APC were also aware of the fact that Jonathan was  the best man for the job at present.