…We Will Cross That Bridge When We Get There—APC Spokesman
…PDP Risks Having No Candidate in 2027— Keyamo
…Attacks on Jonathan Evidence APC is in Panic— Sani
By Yinka Giwa
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, during the weekend went into an apparent overdrive over the growing prospects of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan throwing his hat in the ring to contest the 2027 presidential elections against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Yesterday, Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister, Festus Keyamo, a senior lawyer and one of Tinubu’s most respected 2027 strategists, fired a warning shot in the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP’s direction, warning that the party risks not having a presidential candidate if it fields Jonathan.
But in all the furore over Jonathan, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, sued for calm, telling KTH Daily exclusively that since Jonathan has not said he is running in 2027, there’s no need to split hairs over speculation. He added that APC “ will cross that bridge, if and when we get there.”
Posting on X however, Keyamo warned that the possibility of PDP fielding Jonathan poses a major constitutional risk.
“One of PDP’s attractive targets as a presidential candidate is ex-President Jonathan, because of his purported eligibility to run for only one term.
“But, if he is fielded, the Party runs the RISK of NOT HAVING A CANDIDATE AT ALL by virtue of section 137 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (Fourth Amendment).
“All the arguments as to whether the section can be interpreted to affect him will not be decided on social media, but at the Supreme Court.
“If he is barred from running after nominations have closed and the PDP is declared as having no candidate, nobody should scream ‘judiciary is corrupt’ because such a large party saw the judicial danger ahead and deliberately ignored it,” he warned.
Before Keyamo, the Lagos State chapter of the APC, which is President Tinubu’s home branch of the party, had launched a broadside against the prospect of Jonathan’s candidacy in the 2027 Presidential elections.
In a statement on Friday specifically targeted at Jonathan, the party’s spokesman, Mr Seye Oladejo, took umbrage at the former president’s possible return to the political hustings. He wrote, “while we acknowledge the former president’s role in the peaceful democratic transition of 2015 — an act that rightly earned him praise at home and abroad — we must state, in clear terms, that Nigeria has since moved beyond the politics of sentiment, nostalgia, and symbolism.
“The challenges of today and the future require bold, capable, and forward-thinking leadership — not a return to the comfort of a past that was far from perfect.
“Let it be clear: good luck alone is not a governance strategy,” he said.
Oladejo alleged that the Jonathan administration, from 2010 to 2015, left behind a country grappling with severe structural weaknesses — from unchecked corruption to alarming insecurity and economic inertia.
“While some may look back on those years with rose-tinted glasses, we must remind ourselves that nostalgia is not a policy platform.
“Emotion cannot drive economic reform, and sentimentality will not fix power generation, insecurity, youth unemployment, or education sector decay,” the APC chieftain said.
Oladejo said that the party also noted the constitutional and political complications of a potential Jonathan candidacy.
According to him, having completed more than one term in office, any return bid will inevitably trigger legal contention and political instability — distractions Nigeria cannot afford in a time when decisive action is needed across all sectors of national life.
“Moreover, the former president’s political relevance has been complicated by his recent engagements across party lines.
“His flirtation with the APC and absence from PDP’s strategic rebuilding efforts raise questions about his loyalty, clarity of vision, and political intentions,” he said.
According to him, the APC remains focused on consolidating progress, implementing reforms, and engaging the Nigerian electorate with fresh ideas and credible candidates who reflect the aspirations of a dynamic, youthful population.
“We believe the future of Nigeria does not lie in recycled leadership but in visionary governance rooted in integrity, innovation, and resilience.
“Former President Jonathan remains a respected elder statesman. His legacy as a peaceful democrat is assured. But legacies are not manifestos, and nostalgia is not governance.
“We urge Nigerians to reject emotional shortcuts and stay focused on the need for capable, accountable, and transformative leadership.
“As 2027 approaches, let us not reach backwards in desperation, but move forward with courage and clarity,” Oladejo said.
But in a swift rebuttal yesterday,
former presidential campaign spokesman of the PDP, Umar Sani, said the fear of Jonathan’s return in 2027 haunts and has unsettled the APC.
In a statement made available to KTH Daily, Sani, who also served as Senior Special Assistant on Media to former Vice-President Namadi Sambo, said that “recent comments and misinformation about Jonathan’s intentions were designed to weaken his chances and discredit his record.”
He referred to a recent clarification by Jonathan’s cousin, Azibaola Robert, who dismissed reports that the former president had withdrawn from the 2027 race. According to Sani, such stories were “deliberate attempts to mislead the public and dampen Jonathan’s momentum.”
He also reacted to the statement by Lagos APC’s Oladejo, who argued that Jonathan could not unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and described Jonathan’s presidency as an era of “sentiment and nostalgia.”
“Oladejo’s characterization is not only false but ironic,” Sani said. “The same shortcomings he claims about Jonathan are today more evident under Tinubu. Since Jonathan left in 2015, governance has not improved—rather, it has regressed.”
Sani accused the Tinubu administration of pursuing a Lagos-centric agenda, citing what he described as disproportionate spending on projects in Lagos and surrounding areas. “We are seeing trillions of naira poured into one city at the expense of the federation—₦15 trillion for the Lagos–Calabar coastal road, ₦3.8 trillion for the Third Mainland Bridge, ₦2 trillion for the proposed Badagry–Sokoto superhighway, and ₦712 billion for the renovation of Murtala Mohammed International Airport. This is government for Lagos, not for Nigeria,” he insisted.
In contrast, Sani defended Jonathan’s record in office, pointing to his administration’s establishment of a federal university in the North-East, the Almajiri schools initiative, agricultural reforms through the e-wallet fertilizer system, and regional infrastructure projects across the country. He also recalled Jonathan’s role in boosting GDP growth, granting debt relief to states, and maintaining a freer press and democratic space.
“Under Jonathan, Nigerians could criticise the government openly without fear, and elections were more credible, culminating in his unprecedented concession of defeat in 2015. That singular act remains unmatched in our democratic history,” Sani said.
He argued that the present administration has brought hardship to Nigerians through rising inflation, a depreciating naira, subsidy removal pains, and widespread hunger. “If Jonathan’s era was defined by nostalgia, then Tinubu’s era is defined by hardship, elitism, and sectionalism,” he stated.
Sani maintained that Jonathan’s potential return should not be dismissed as longing for the past but rather seen as a push for a more inclusive and pan-Nigerian leadership. “Jonathan’s style was humane, unifying, and never vindictive. The fear of his comeback is proof of his enduring strength in the political space,” he said.
He concluded that Nigerians had tested both leaders and could now make a clear comparison. “Since Jonathan left, the country has only declined. Tinubu represents sectional decline, while Jonathan still represents the possibility of national renewal,” Sani added.
Meanwhile, former President Jonathan, through his cousin and staunch advisers, Azibaola Robert, on Friday denied apparently sponsored reports suggesting he has stepped aside from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
The rebuttal followed claims in a report that the statesman had opted not to run so as not to disrupt Southern unity.
According to Azibaola, while Jonathan has not yet announced his decision to run, he has equally not ruled himself out of the race.
“The former president has made it clear that he would not yield to calls not to run, since those making such admonitions had selfish motives,” Azibaola said, without specifying when or how Jonathan might formally declare his ambition.
In another development, an Ibadan-based preacher, Apostle Oluwarotimi Adeyeye of the Clear Revelation Ministry, has prophesied that former president can return to Aso Rock on the wings of the 2027 general election.
According to the cleric, former President Goodluck Jonathan could return to Aso Rock if he chose to contest.
Adeyeye said, “God can still bring him back to office once more if Nigeria still stands as a nation.”
The preacher, who once predicted the impeachment and eventual reinstatement of former Oyo State governor Rashidi Ladoja, said Jonathan remained a strong contender and could run on the platform of any registered political party.
Speaking during a press briefing in Ibadan last week, Adeyeye praised Jonathan’s past decisions, especially his refusal to legalise same-sex marriage despite foreign pressure, and his decision to step down peacefully in 2015.
“It would have been war and bloodshed if he refused to leave the office,” he added.