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By Chidiebere Onyemaizu
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, though arguably no longer an active politician, has remained a recurring decimal in political discourses ten years after leaving office. In the run up to the 2027 presidential election, a broad spectrum of Nigerians, including his erstwhile traducers are again yearning for his return to office, a dramatic move, political analysts describe as a rude re-awakening.
Just as enormous pressure was mounted on him to contest the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections respectively, Dr Jonathan is again coming under immense pressure to contest the 2027 presidential election. But the former leader is yet to take a stand or make a formal statement to that effect. However, observers opine that his body language is hugely suggestive of a 2027 presidential ambition. This is even as some of his supporters and political allies have given strong hint about the possibility of his running.
For example, former Minister for Information, Professor Jerry Gana, speaking recently at the Niger State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) congress said Nigerians are yearning for Jonathan’s comeback.
“In 2015, Jonathan said his ambition was not worth the blood of Nigerians. Since then, we’ve had another President for eight years and now another for two years. Nigerians have seen the difference, and they are asking us to bring back our friend, former President Goodluck Jonathan. I can confirm that he will contest in 2027 as PDP’s candidate,” Gana stated.
Daily Sun recalls that the flurry of calls on the former President to return to the political stage, contest the presidency and return to office started in 2019, four years after conceding defeat and vacating office as the first Nigerian sitting president to have been voted out of office.
Should speculations of his 2027 presidential ambition eventually becomes a reality, it will run counter to his wife, the former First Lady, Dr Patience Jonathan’s declaration in May during a function hosted by the First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu in Abuja that her husband was done with the presidency and would not run against President Tinubu in 2027.
Her words: “All the way, we are with you. No shaking. We will follow. Direct us, and we will follow because there is only one President at a time. We don’t have two Presidents. I am outspoken—if I don’t like something, I will say it. But if I like something, I die with it.
“I believe in one President. I believe in turn by turn. When it’s your turn, I will support you. When it’s not your turn, step back—so that the country can move forward. Even when my husband was the vice president, Oluremi stood with her husband and supported us during our first election. They supported us. So, for me, I have a conscience. I cannot abandon my friend, whether you like it or not.
“Because, you see, this is turn by turn. Today is my turn—I will go. Tomorrow, it will be another person’s turn—then we go. And when we go, will we still meet. Where will we meet? I don’t know”
The various groups and individuals urging Jonathan to challenge President Tinubu at the polls in 2027, insist that with the benefit of hindsight, Jonathan out performed his successors- the late President Muhammadu Buhari who defeated him in 2015, and the incumbent, President Tinubu.
One of such groups is the Nigeria Rescue Mission Organisation. A few months ago, its president, Dr Jibril Mustapha pleaded with Jonathan to heed the calls to run for the office of the president in 2027, citing the need to rescue the country.
“As the nation prepares for the 2027 elections, the Nigeria Rescue Mission Organisation believes that now is the time for all stakeholders to come together and support a candidate who can genuinely represent the interests of all Nigerians.
“We urge former President Goodluck Jonathan to consider this call and to step forward as a candidate who can unite our country and lead us towards a brighter future,” Mustapha said.
Meanwhile, the prospect of Jonathan’s candidacy in the 2027 presidential election appears to be unsettling President Tinubu’s camp. No sooner had Professor Gana confirmed Jonathan’s alleged 2027 interest than presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga dismissed it as delusional, boasting that his principal will trounce the former President if he dared contest in the 2027.
Onanuga suggested that the presidency will drag Dr Jonathan to court to determine his eligibility to contest having been sworn into office twice.
The presidency’s braggadocio notwithstanding, President Tinubu’s kitchen cabinet is believed to be jolted by Professor Gana’s disclosure and are now back to the drawing board, frantically re-assessing and re-strategising, having come to grim realisation that their principal, Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) , may indeed be squaring up against Jonathan rather than either former Vice President Atiku Abubakar or former Anambra state Governor, Peter Obi as they had earlier projected.
The president and his loyalists, Daily Sun has been informed, are not taking the dramatic turn of event lightly and are exploring appropriate strategies to stave off the likely electoral misfortune the former President’s candidacy could inflict on the president’s re-election bid.
“Barring a last-minute change of mind by Jonathan and opposition eggheads- which I’m aware will never happen- the president will be facing former President Jonathan at the 2027 presidential polls and we are worried about the danger this could portend to the re-election bid of Mr President. We are worried that Jonathan may corner South-South and South-East votes and the majority of Northern votes, the unfolding scenario indicates the North will be a battle ground”, an Aso Rock insider familiar with the re-assessment of 2027 presidential election battle told Daily Sun.
Meanwhile, broad consultations on the former President’s 2027 presidential project are believed to be ongoing, albeit mostly discreetly. Recently, Dr. Jonathan visited the interim National Chairman of the opposition coalition platform, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in what political commentators say was part of his wide consultations. He had before then met with Obi who ran as the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election and stunned the nation with rare electoral surprises never before witnessed in Nigeria.
In the coming political resetting, major opposition leaders namely Obi, Atiku and former Transport Minister, Chibuike Amaechi who have already indicated 2027 presidential interest are, according to sources, expected to stand down for Jonathan.
If Atiku did stand down for Jonathan, as a show of goodwill and appreciation of his sacrifice, he is likely going to be allowed the sole franchise to nominate a running mate for Jonathan from any state in the North, though, some argue that pairing either the former Governor of Kano, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso or the former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El -Rufai with Jonathan would be an electoral masterstroke.
Daily Sun learnt that Jonathan will enjoy enormous bipartisan support if and when he formally declares his interest to return to Aso Rock as a good number of National Assembly members and governors across party lines are said to be well disposed to his candidacy.
The Northern political establishment, Daily Sun also learnt, is favourably disposed to the former President’s return to power as, in their estimation, that will facilitate a seamless return of power to the region in 2031.
Speaking on the development, a former lawmaker said “Well, I can tell you, firstly, without mincing words, that we will be glad to have His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Jonathan on the ballot for the 2027 presidential election. Secondly, I can also confirm to you that he has been receiving, albeit secretly, bipartisan support, including some APC and PDP governors and federal lawmakers. I can tell you authoritatively that if Jonathan decides to run, he will be a candidate of parties rather than a candidate of a party because different political parties and party chieftains are solidly behind his candidacy.
“Thirdly, I can also authoritatively inform you that the Northern political establishment is enthusiastic about the prospect of Jonathan’s second coming, they see him as a bridge between the North and the 2031 presidency. Of course, Jonathan’s four-year tenure- 2027- 2031- will give way for a Northern president.”
Apart from the bipartisan support he has allegedly been receiving, the former President’s confidence and interest in returning to power, Daily Sun was informed, was buoyed by the former Ghanaian President, John Mahama’s return to office, and also the victory of former Malawian President, 85-year-old Paul Mutharika over the incumbent, President Lazarus Chakwera in that country’s just concluded presidential election.
A political analyst, Dr Inyali Peter shares the sentiment: “Former President Johnathan paid a courtesy visit on ADC National Chairman, Sen. David Mark. At this point, I think he’ll run. I think the return of Ghana former President too has boosted his confidence.”
Sources close to the national leadership of the PDP and ADC told Daily Sun that Jonathan’s loyalists in both parties are fiddling with the idea of a hybrid alliance or coalition in which Jonathan will be announced as a candidate of both parties but will wield the ticket of one.
They also contend that in the alternative, the PDP may announce a merger or coalition arrangement with ADC for the purpose of the 2027 presidential election with Jonathan as the flag bearer at its November convention in Ibadan.
