Former president Goodluck Jonathan continues to develop unquenchable appetite for another shot at the presidency despite the ugly circumstances that necessitated his inglorious ouster from the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in 2015, but his critics say he will be ready to face many hurdles some of which might bring him to public ridicule
By Udoka Ekeleme, Abuja
He was branded clueless throughout the near-six years he spent in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja as Nigeria’s President between 2010 and 2015. Former President Goodluck Jonathan was unable to tackle insecurity and almost danced out his heart the day the Chibok girls were abducted in 2014. His economic policies coupled with the festering corruption that crumbled his government made him lose the 2015 presidential election to late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan’s wife and his Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, were Jonathan government’s faces of corruption. However, his only tangible legacy was that he mustered the courage to congratulate Buhari when the latter won him in the 2015 presidential election, and also declared that his presidential ambition was not worth the blood of any Nigerian.
Ten years after, Jonathan is being lured to contest another presidential election. But opinions are divided as to his eligibility to contest again, while his closest associates and aides have confirmed that he has accepted to run in 2027.
It was gathered that leaders of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who are seemingly opposed to the presidential ambition of Peter Obi have been making serious efforts to persuade Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election under the party’s platform.
The PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, was quoted to have confirmed that the PDP was actively trying to convince the former president to return to the presidential race.
Jonathan had previously served a single term as president and lost his re-election bid in 2015 to the late Buhari.
Abdullahi was reported to have said that the party’s invitation to Jonathan was in line with widespread calls from Nigerians who also wanted the former president to return. He described Jonathan as a statesman and a good leader, noting that many of the problems previously attributed to him had since been reconsidered by the public.
Abdullahi insisted that Jonathan had demonstrated exceptional statesmanship by choosing not to manipulate the 2015 election results, despite having the power to do so as an incumbent. Instead, he had chosen the path of peace by conceding defeat to prevent violence.
Abdullahi claimed that Jonathan had responded positively to the invitation, saying he would reflect on the proposal and consult widely before making a final decision.
According to Abdullahi, “Some of the conditions he gave were, to be given automatic ticket if he accepts to run. He also said he would have to make consultations before getting back to us.”
Also confirming Jonathan’s readiness to throw his heart in the ring come 2027, one of his close allies and a member of PDP confirmed to journalists that the plan to draft the former President to contest on PDP’s platform had gone far, and that he had accepted, adding that the former president was going into the race to find ways of addressing Nigeria’s rising poverty, hardship and the general suffering that has crippled the citizenry in recent years.
Many politicians who are not at ease with the pledge of Obi to rule for only one term if voted in 2027, believe that giving Jonathan the opportunity to run for a single term of four years remains a sure pathway for power to return to the north in 2031 and remain there for another eight years without a serious struggle by the south.
Going by the fact that Jonathan had already served out a term of four years, he cannot run for more than another four years in office if he wins the election in 2027, just like incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if he gets re-elected.
Investigation pieced by this medium showed that Jonathan has been meeting with some top leaders within and outside the PDP to consult them and seek their support for the 2027 presidential race.
Jonathan reportedly visited former Nigerian military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), recently in his Hilltop Mansion in Minna, Niger State, and briefed him on his desire to run for one term in 2027.
Sources privy to the meeting did not say what Babangida’s response to Jonathan was, but expressed optimism that the idea had been properly sold to the north.
Meanwhile, the PDP Deputy Spokesperson, Abdullahi opined that “Many Nigerians have come to realise the mistake they made in not re-electing Dr. Jonathan. They now acknowledge his achievements and are even apologising, pleading with him to return and rescue the country”.
On the legality of Jonathan contesting in 2027, some legal luminaries in the country weighed in on the issue with some contending that the Constitutional provisions have already disqualified him, while others insisted that he had the Constitutional right to contest again in 2027.
Mr. Johnmary Jideobi, a human rights lawyer argued that if Jonathan contests the 2027 election and emerge victorious, it could pose a different legal challenge.
He said, “If President Jonathan contests again and eventually wins in 2027, he will have exceeded the maximum number of eight years contemplated by the Constitution for any person to occupy the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“This is the fountain and foundation of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence explicated in the case of MARWA & Anor v. Nyako Ors (2012) 6 NWLR (Pt. 1296) 199 wherein the Supreme Court near exhaustively (in a consolidated appeal) dealt with the issue of tenure elongation by some governors.
“This obviously raises a fundamental question of the eligibility of President Jonathan to put himself forward for an election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It appears that the jurisprudential floodlight afforded by the referenced Supreme Court decision points in the direction of his ineligibility”.
In his opinion, Olabode George, argued that Jonathan is eminently qualified to contest the 2027 presidential election. Speaking on the issue last week, the former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, George, said former President Jonathan was eminently qualified to run for office on the platform of the PDP.
