Former President Goodluck Jonathan should ignore the calls on him to contest the 2027 presidential election, according to Israel Sunny-Goli, a former House of Representatives member from Bayelsa state. Jonathan is from Bayelsa state.
The former lawmaker gave the advice on Thursday on Channels Television Politics Today, saying Jonathan’s popularity has nosedived since he left office 10 years ago.
Jonathan failed re-election in 2015 after losing the election to late President Muhammadu Buhari. Since then, he has not been taking active part in the nation’s political activities, making some Nigerians to suggest that the former leader may have decided not to contest the nation’s Presidency again.
According to the former lawmaker, Jonathan must resist the calls on him to contest again, saying the odds are no longer in his favour, adding that it will be a big mistake for him to listen to political ‘jobbers’ who are putting pressures on him to run.
He stressed that Jonathan has not been participating in political activities in the country since he left power over a decade ago, signaling that he’s not possibly interested in contesting for office.
Sunny-Goli: “I think Jonathan will take this in good faith because he’s a good man and wants the progress of the state.
“People have been speculating about him contesting for the next elections. I believe Jonathan will not make the mistake of contesting for the 2027 elections as speculated by political jobbers, because the odds are against him.
“He has not made a move after his exit from the presidency to show that he’s still a practical politician or active politician in this country.”
Recall that a former governor of Edo state and National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Adams Oshiomhole recently warned Jonathan not to contest against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, saying he will be utterly defeated by the incumbent.
The former governor said those pushing the former leader to run for the Nigerian Presidency do not wish him well, adding that Jonathan has become more relevant since he left office in 2015, nothing that his party, the PDP is no longer popular in the country, particularly in the South-south where the former president hails from.
Oshiomhole: “I have a lot of respect for him. Now, how can Jonathan be a threat? We defeated him before when PDP was truly PDP. If a man had a PDP at his best, at his peak and he was defeated, I think only his enemy will push him to go into the race.
“There are other issues that may not be helpful to him. I think he has managed to demonstrate that out of power, you can be relevant and be at peace.
“If I were able to advise him, I will say sir, maintain this status . If I were him, I will spend the rest of my life trying to find relevance which he has already found.
“But we will defeat him if he comes out flatly very flatly because now the south are no longer PDP so where is he going to start from.”
Jonathan has yet to make a public declaration on whether he will run or not.
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