Ahead of the 2019 elections, former President, Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday warned godfathers against the imposition of candidates on political parties.
Jonathan urged politicians not to yield to any form of negative influence from godfathers because most elections are lost due to the imposition of candidates.
Speaking when he hosted Sen. Philip Gyunka in Abuja, Jonathan also urged political godfathers to yield to people’s yearning in preparation for 2019 and steer clear of anti-party activities.
He noted that although there was nothing wrong with having godfathers, they should not be “clogs in the wheel of progress.”
Jonathan said, “I have no problem with the issue of godfathers because as a Christian if you are taking a child for baptism, there is this concept of godfather or godmother.
“These are people that are supposed to help mentor the children and give advice from time to time. Godfather should not be used negatively.
“For example, if you come from a community that participates actively in wrestling with neighbouring communities and you know your son cannot wrestle, you cannot send him.
“Even in politics, if you have a son or anybody and you know the person cannot lead the party to victory, and you are sending the person because you are hoping for something, then you do not like the party.
“If you like the party, you will ask your son to work with the person that you believe can win elections. “We lost most of these elections because of this issue of imposition of people that are not acceptable to the public.”
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