There seems to be a serious confusion over former President Goodluck Jonathan’s membership of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The situation followed confusing reports from the Bayelsa Chapter of the Party as it affects the rumoured presidential ambition of Jonathan under the umbrella of the APC.

The former President and all his close associates have also maintained a sealed lips as the confusion ranges on.

The Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Thursday, has dismissed speculations that Jonathan has officially defected to the party from his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The state APC chairman, Dennis Otiotio, stated this while reacting to media reports purporting that Jonathan had formally joined the APC to contest the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Party.

Reports on Thursday had quoted the APC Chairman in Jonathan's ward 13 in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa, Freeman Igori, as having confirmed that the former president formally joined the party on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, in his Otuoke country home.

Otiotio, who spoke in a telephone interview, however, said that Jonathan was officially not yet a member of the APC in the state.

He stated that the former president could only become a member of the APC when the national chairman of the party, Adamu Abdullahi, had granted him a waiver.

Otiotio said he was not aware that Jonathan had been given a waiver by Abdullahi to join the APC to contest the presidency.

The state APC chairman said, "I think the person you people should be asking the question is the national chairman of the party. He should be the one to grant him (Jonathan) waiver.

"As of now, he has not officially joined our party. Ask the national chairman if he has granted him waiver."

However, Otiotio described Jonathan as "a big fish and an elder statesman", adding that it will be great if he finally joins the APC ahead of the general elections.

In an exclusive report by Daily Trust, the leadership of the in Ogbia Local Government, again confused the situation when he reportedly confirmed the Jonathan’s membership of the APC.

Contrary to what he said earlier, the chairman of APC in Ogbia ward 13, Freeman, was reported to have told Daily Trust on the same Thursday that Jonathan registered with the party immediately after the short-lived victory of David Lyon, the APC candidate in the 2019 governorship election in the state.

“I know too well that Jonathan registered with APC, but registration is not about publishing to the whole world. The register was with me, it was not only him that registered during that period, some dignitaries from PDP also registered with APC after David Lyon’s victory during 2019 governorship election.

“You can go to the state Chairman and ask him that the ward Chairman believe that Jonathan registered with the party, we have finished with the registration, so I can’t give detail now because I returned all the data after everything. Meet the party Chairman, Chief Dennis Otiotio for more clarification,” Jonathan’s ward chairman reportedly told Daily Trust.

Otiotio was quoted to have said again when Daily Trust reportedly contacted him, “I think you should call the national Secretariat, they will be able to give the true position, the state Secretariat don’t have any knowledge, any information about that.”

On Wednesday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted sources as saying Jonathan had accepted to contest the 2023 election under APC.

The agency said Jonathan was expected to submit his expression of interest and nomination forms at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja, on Thursday.

While social media was rife with the news of Jonathan’s defection, a picture of the former President meeting with Abdullahi Adamu, National Chairman of the APC, went viral.

On Monday, a Northern group of the Fulani extraction Normadic Pastoralists and the Almajiri Communities has obtained the Presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for Jonathan.

But the former President, through his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, was quick to dismiss the gesture tagging it an insult and that the former Presient was never consulted or was the purchase authorised.

"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.”