The Presidency has issued a warning to former President Goodluck Jonathan amid speculations that he may run for president again in 2027, accusing him of leaving behind a legacy of economic mismanagement and corruption.
This follows comments by Professor Jerry Gana, a former Minister of Information, who declared that former President Goodluck Jonathan will contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and reclaim the presidency.
Gana, speaking to journalists after the PDP Niger State Congress in Minna on Saturday, said Nigerians had experienced two other leaders after Jonathan and were now yearning for his return.
“In 2015, Jonathan said his ambition was not worth the blood of Nigerians. After him, another President ruled for eight years, and now another has ruled for two years. Nigerians have seen the difference, and the difference is very clear. Nigerians are now asking us to bring back our friend, Jonathan,” Gana stated.
“I can confirm that Jonathan will contest the presidential election in 2027 as a PDP candidate, and we should be prepared to vote for him to return as President again.”
But the Presidency, through President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the claims as laughable, accusing Gana of fooling himself by believing Jonathan could defeat President Tinubu, who was voted into office in 2023.
“Gana even deluded himself, asserting that the former President would defeat President Tinubu to reclaim power after 12 years,” Onanuga stated.
“Prof. Gana of the defunct MAMSER fame is free to delude himself and engage in his usual comedy; after all, Jonathan’s entering the race would provide another job for the Niger State-born former university don.”
Onanuga also warned Jonathan to be careful of politicians like Gana, calling them “sugar-coated cheerleaders” who only want to use him to serve their personal or ethnic interests.
“However, we should caution former President Jonathan to be wary of the PDP sugar-coated cheerleaders. Politicians of Jerry Gana’s ilk merely want to lure him into the race to satisfy their personal, political, religious, and ethnic interests. They will abandon him midstream, as they did in 2015, and leave Gentleman Jonathan in the lurch.”
Onanuga stated that the PDP, which ruled Nigeria for 16 years, left behind a broken economy and that Jonathan’s administration was part of the problem.
He accused Jonathan’s government of mismanaging oil money, wasting foreign reserves, and allowing massive corruption.
He stated, “Let us remind ourselves about Jonathan’s record. We cannot forget in a hurry how his regime, devoid of any clear economic agenda, engaged in frivolous spending, ran the economy aground, and put the country in dire straits. The nation’s economic downturn, which President Tinubu is working very hard to overcome, actually began under President Jonathan.
“The Jonathan administration severely damaged the economy, and all key indicators declined under his watch. Under him, the so-called business moguls allocated foreign exchange to import fuel, simply pocketing the dollars without importing anything. Some of those big men still have court cases on the issue today.
“Jonathan and his National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), freely distributed security funds to friends and cronies.
“In 2010, President Jonathan inherited a total of $66 billion, of which $46 billion was in foreign reserves and $20 billion in the noble-but-abused Excess Crude Account. By 2015, when the people democratically removed him from office, the foreign reserves had fallen below $30 billion, and the Excess Crude Account had been depleted to $2 billion, despite generating record revenue from crude oil sales that the country had never achieved in more than 25 years combined.”
The Presidential spokesman then insisted that talk of the 2027 election is too early and only being pushed by those afraid of Tinubu’s economic reforms, which he said are already showing results.
Onanuga said while Jonathan has the constitutional right to contest if he chooses, questions remain about his eligibility, having already been sworn in twice, and noted that the matter could ultimately be decided in court.
He added, “Don’t get us wrong: President Jonathan reserves the right to run if he wishes. It is his inalienable right to contest the presidency again. President Tinubu will wholeheartedly welcome him if he decides to enter the race.
“But Jonathan will have his date in the court of the land. Indeed, the jury will determine whether Jonathan, who was sworn in twice as President, satisfies the constitutional requirements and is eligible to contest the presidency and be sworn in, if successful, for a third term in office.
“Shorn of all those selfish considerations for which some PDP big guns find his candidacy appealing, President Jonathan will also have his encounter with the people as to whether he has anything new to offer after his disastrous six years, for which they voted him out in 2015.”
