According to the BBC, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is seeking re-election in next year’s election after switching political parties.
After five years in power, Mr Jonathan has joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which he defeated in 2015.
On Monday, a supporters’ group purchased the nomination form on his behalf, continuing the tradition of aspirants purchasing the form through proxies.
Many Nigerians, particularly those in his former party, the People’s Democratic Party, were taken aback by his choice to run for president with the APC (PDP).
Rumours about his secret defection to the ruling party had been circulating for months, but neither Mr Jonathan nor his friends had responded.
Nigeria’s major political parties are scheduled to hold primaries later this month in order to fulfill the election commission’s June 3 deadline for submitting candidates for the February 2023 poll.
The APC’s nomination papers cost 100 million naira (about $240,000; £195,000).
Former Lagos state governor Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi are among the candidates for the party’s nomination.
Mr Jonathan’s decision to transfer parties is unknown, but there have been rumors that he was disgruntled following his loss in 2015, when he was reputedly betrayed by senior party associates.
If he wins next year, he will only be eligible for one more term, perhaps returning power to northern Nigeria in an unwritten, contentious arrangement that alternates power between north and south. Mr. Jonathan is a Nigerian from the south.
Whoever receives the APC’s election nomination may face a tough fight from the PDP.
Its aspiring candidates, such as Peter Obi, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike, are extremely popular, particularly in the south.
