Rumours of the party’s alleged plans became rife on social media following some of the party leaders’ visit to the former President when he turned a year older last November.

Reacting to the rumour in an interview with BBC Hausa, the Yobe State Governor and Chairman of the APC Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Mai Mala Buni said “Those peddling such information are afraid. But for now, there is nothing in the APC which has anything to do with the aspiration for 2023. Even if someone wants to base assumption on our recent visit to him during his birthday, we were there because of his capacity as a former President of Nigeria. We must give credit to former President Jonathan on the issue of peace – how he accepted defeat in 2015 and resigned to fate. That has qualified him to be a statesman and he is now among our fathers. Our visit to Jonathan was pronounced because of his status as a former President. That could be why some may think there was something beneath. There are numerous such visits to leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), APC. Why are others not being mentioned? Even in America where we got this democracy, I have not seen where people are being confined to a limit. You are talking of democracy and at the same time talking of giving him a ticket. Don’t forget even when President Buhari went to revalidate party membership in Daura, he said it is the people at the grassroots that will select leaders upwards, that no one should expect to be crowned from Abuja. This has shown that in APC now, it is from the lower level upwards, not that people would be imposed from the top. Who are we to say we are considering Jonathan? How? It has to be a party affair and once it is a party affair, then, we are talking about the people. So, we have nothing like that on our agenda. What we have now, and is of importance to us, is to ensure peace amongst party members. Also, to bring members of other political parties, whichever party it might be, whoever wants, should come into the APC. This is our plan for now. We are yet to start talking about aspirants; we are not in any discussion about aspirants.”

On Sunday, September 20, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC declared Obaseki of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the election after polling 307, 955 votes to defeat his main contender Pastor Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress APC, who polled 223, 619 votes.

Reacting to the outcome of the election, the chairman of the APC national caretaker committee, Mai Mala Buni, said in a statement that the peaceful conduct of the election and its outcome represents a victory for Nigeria’s democracy.

Read the full text of the statement “September 19, 2020, Edo State Governorship election is over, the winner has been declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the person of the Mr Godwin Obaseki, candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP). We hereby congratulate the winner of the election, the people of Edo State and all Nigerians. The peaceful conduct of the election and its outcome represent a victory for Nigeria’s democracy As a party, we join our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, to affirm our ‘commitment to free and fair elections’ in order to strengthen ‘the foundation for our political and moral authority’. We commend INEC, our security agencies and all political parties that contested the election for the successful conduct of the election. As a governing party, we will take every step necessary to support the Federal Government to consolidate all the gains achieved. We, in particular, want to salute our candidate in the election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamuh for his tenacity and leadership. We similarly commend our Edo State leaders, especially our immediate past National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and all our members in Edo State for demonstrating unwavering support for our party and our candidate in the election. In the face of all the challenges, we collectively remained faithful and worked tirelessly during the campaigns. We appeal to all our members to be strengthened by the outcome of the election and unite in order to correct all the problems that worked against our party and our candidate in the just concluded election. Finally, we especially hereby celebrate our Edo State 2020 Governorship Campaign Council led by His Excellency Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Governor of Kano State. We acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of all members of the Campaign Council. As progressives and democrats, we are confident that all leaders and members of the party will celebrate the outcome of the election as free and fair as acknowledge by our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari. Let us unite to move our democracy for forwarding. We must put an end to the era when the electoral contest become warfare. We urge our candidate and all our members to join us in congratulating Mr Godwin Obaseki and the PDP, being the declared winner of the election. Our attention must now shift to Ondo State and ensure that we win the October 10, 2020 election. September 19, 2020, Edo election should present a new watershed. We will work hard to win the Ondo election. Having reaffirmed our commitment to free and fair elections, it is our expectation that all opposition parties in the country will also commit themselves to free and fair contests. We will therefore accordingly expect a congratulatory message from all parties just as we similarly guarantee that once we are defeated in a fair contest, we will congratulate the winner. May God continue to bless our democracy, our nation and our people!

His Excellency, Mai Mala Buni

Chairman, APC Caretaker Extraordinary/Convention Planning Committee”