Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, pressure is mounting on former President, Goodluck Jonathan to join the race.
The former president is under pressure, especially from the northern opposition, to declare his interest to run against President Bola Tinubu.
Jonathan served as Nigerian president for about five years.
The former Bayelsa State governor became a president by chance following the death of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in May 2010.
Yar’Adua served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010.
He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April, 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007.
On Thursday May 6, 2010, Jonathan was sworn in as 14th head of state and 4th executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
After completing the tenure of Yar’Adua, Jonathan contested and won the presidential election in 2011 but was defeated by the coalition of political parties under the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2015, in his second attempt.
Back then in 2015, there was heated debate about an individual being sworn in thrice as the President of Nigeria as some groups opposed Jonathan’s emergence for this reason.
It was had then reported that some Northern youths called on Jonathan to bury his second term ambition, declaring that no Nigerian President can be sworn in thrice.
The youths, under the aegis of Arewa Youths Forum, AYF, said the then president had taken the oath of office twice.
The debate resonated again in 2023 when different positions on his eligibility for the 2023 presidential election made the rounds.
However, a Federal High Court in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, in a judgment delivered on Friday, May 27, 2022, cleared Jonathan for the 2023 Presidential contest.
This happened hours to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential primary elections as there was anticipation that he would join the contest.
And by then, the former President was linked with the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential race following the reported purchase of N100 million form on his behalf by a Fulani group.
The court held that Jonathan, who lost the 2015 election to President Muhammadu Buhari, could still vie for the highest political office in the country.
The presiding judge, Justice Isa Hamma Dashen, who gave the judgement, also held that Jonathan’s right to contest for the office of president in 2023 cannot be stopped by any retroactive law.
In an originating summons filed by Andy Solomon and Idibiye Abraham, the plaintiffs sought an order of the court stating that Jonathan is not affected by the fourth alteration to the constitution barring Vice-Presidents who succeed their principals from serving more than one full term.
APC, Jonathan and the Independent National Electoral Commission were listed as defendants in the suit marked FHC/YNG/CS/86/2022, before Justice Isa Dashen.
However, Jonathan did not contest during the 2023 presidential election, even with the claims that then President Muhammadu Buhari was aiming at compensating the Bayelsa-born politician for relinquishing power to him in 2015.
And now, as political discussions for 2027 have commenced in earnest, the former president appears to be under pressure to enter the race.
Just like in 2023, the pressure seems to be coming mostly from the North.
In accordance with the gentleman’s agreement between the north and the south, Jonathan’s presidency would favour the north as he would have to do just one term in office with no room for a second, according to the constitution.
Although the former President has not made public his decision on whether or not he is entering the race, those around are being quoted to say that he will be one of the leading candidates to confront President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential poll.
He is rumoured to be readying himself to run on the platform of the People Democratic Party, PDP, with stories in some sections of the media claiming that he had already accepted.
Meanwhile, as Jonathan’s potential candidacy for the 2027 presidential election remains uncertain, with no official announcements or confirmations from him or the PDP regarding his intentions, some Nigerians and political observers have recently shared divergent views about him.
Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District, in a recent interview on Channels Television, gave reasons Jonathan should not contest the forthcoming 2027 presidential election.
Sani said the PDP, the party Jonathan used to win the election in 2011, is no longer the same.
He advised the ex-president to jettison the idea of running for president come 2027.
Also, Dele Farotimi, a frontline lawyer, said that some politicians are trying hard to rebrand Jonathan, who was voted out of office by Nigerians in 2015 for valid reasons.
He pointed out that there were good reasons Nigerians decided to vote Jonathan out in 2015 which they believed was the solution to the country’s problems, but ended up in a worse situation
For a human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, Jonathan is not interested in contesting the 2027 presidential election.
Meanwhile, when asked , if the PDP was ready to receive Jonathan’s ambition with open arms and hand him the party’s sole presidential ticket, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the matter was still speculative.
But in a telephone interview , Dr Adetokunbo Pearse, a Lagos PDP chieftain and former member, Atiku Abubakar 2023 presidential campaign council, said he does not expect someone like Goodluck Jonathan to get the nod of the PDP even if he shows interest to run in the election.
Pearse, a former PDP national chairmanship aspirant and gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State, said Goodluck Jonathan, a full member of PDP, was more than welcome to come and run if he wants to, especially as the party has zoned the presidency to the South.
However, he noted that Jonathan has not been an active member of the party, doesn’t fund the party and shows no moral support.
He pointed out that Jonathan’s candidacy could lead to litigation, a risk the PDP is not ready to take.
“He’s not just coming to PDP. Jonathan is a member of PDP. He has not been very active; nonetheless, he’s a full member of the party.
“So as a member of the party, and since the party has zoned the presidency to the south, he’s more than welcome to come and run if he wants to run.
“My suspicion, though, is two things. Number one, he has been away from the party. He has not been involved, he has not been helpful, he has not been encouraging.
“He has not been funding the party, no moral support for about five years now. Therefore, I don’t see how he could get the nomination, because where will he get the delegates, so that’s the problem.
“So if he wants to run, I don’t think he will win the primaries. And by the way, we don’t give tickets to anybody. We support whoever wants to run, and then they go and look for delegates. If they win the primaries with more delegates, then they become the nominee.
“Secondly, I don’t think it is in the best interest of the PDP to even field a person like Jonathan, because there is this question of whether or not he’s even legally qualified to run after being sworn in twice.
“Some people, some legal reading says, yes, you can run. Others, they cannot run. When you have such doubt. Don’t you think it is best for a party not to field him at all, not to support him? You see my point. I think he’s disqualified because court cases will come up. That is too risky. That is the point.
“We have people in the party who are running. The Governor of Oyo state has stated it clearly and he stands a good chance of winning the ticket.
“If he wins the ticket, I assure you he will defeat Tinubu in 2027. So what is this whole cry about Jonathan? I don’t understand what is going on in this country. Some people are calling Jonathan, others are calling for Tinubu, Atiku and all these old expired people.
“Why don’t we even support a new generation of leaders. By 2027, Makinde will be, I think, 59 years old. That’s what we need now. He has been tried in Oyo state, and he has performed extremely well, therefore, we don’t have a problem of who becomes the PDP candidate.
“But if Jonathan is to come, I just told you, my opinion, if he comes, I doubt he would be able to put together a number of delegates to defeat Makinde in the primaries.
“Secondly, it is not in the interest of PDP to field somebody who may become subject of litigation in the future.”
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