Politics
Why I Won’t Contest Nigeria Presidency Again – Goodluck Jonathan
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has publicly declared that he will never run for office again.
He claimed that if he decided to start lobbying people and running for office once more, he would be devaluing himself.
Jonathan said this in an interview published in a book, ‘My Time As Chaplain In Aso Rock,” presented to the public on Tuesday.
“If you wake up tomorrow and see that I am President again, that means there may have been circumstances beyond my control. But not to go and pick one form and go and start lobbying people and running for campaigns; I can’t do that again. If I do that, I will diminish myself,” the former President said.
Jonathan said he enjoyed the drama that characterised the rumour earlier in the year that he had purchased a nomination form of the All Progressives Congress to enable him to contest for the party’s presidential ticket.
Ahead of the June 2022 APC presidential primary, a group, Nomadic Pastoralists and Almajirai Community, led by Ibrahim Abdullahi, purchased the N100m nomination and expression of interest forms in Jonathan’s name.
Speaking on the controversy that trailed the group’s decision, Jonathan said, “I was enjoying the drama. At least they are not insulting me. After all, I was pursued out of the office that I was not good enough. So, if now, Nigerians are saying, ‘Oh, this man should come,’ that means they are cleaning me up. So, let me enjoy the drama.
“I was not disturbed. I know I cannot go and start struggling to be President again. It wasn’t only Nigerians who were asking me such questions, even most of the top ambassadors -the American ambassador, the UK High Commissioner, France, and all of them. They came to ask me whether I would contest. I don’t think I would contest any election.
“If you wake up tomorrow and see that I’m President again, that means there may have been circumstances beyond my control. But not to go and pick one form and go and start lobbying people and running for campaigns, be it PDP power or APC broom and moving across Nigeria. I can’t do that again; if I do that, I will diminish myself.”
He added that the only roles acceptable to him now involve stabilising democracy in troubled African states.
He added, “Assuming there’s some confusion, and sometimes things like that happen in countries. So, they tell me to come and play a role in stabilising things; a stable democracy where one leader hands over to another is what we all want.
“Let us go through that process and not interrupt the democratic processes. We pray such things should not happen. Otherwise, to go and say I’m contesting on the platform of any party at all. No!”
He said, “When I took over as the vice president, the tradition then was that if the President were a Christian, the Vice would be a Muslim and vice versa. We have religious festivals in Nigeria and, of course, National Day, where there will be Jummah prayers and Christian prayers.
“Nigerians are religious people, this is why I get worried about the issues of Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket. Yes, Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian can run the state. But I always ask, ‘who will represent this other bloc whenever we come to the national days that we celebrate?”
Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has said the 2027 presidential contest should be dominated by Southern candidates, arguing that the South should be allowed to complete an eight-year tenure before power returns to the North in 2031.
Sani made the declaration on Thursday in a post on X, as debate over zoning and the rotation of presidential power continues ahead of the 2027 general election.
SEE MORE: 2027: Wike’s 419ners, Lazy Remarks Against APC Gov in Bad Taste — Aliyu
He listed President Bola Tinubu, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, Social Democratic Party candidate Adewole Adebayo and former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke among the Southern politicians who should contest the 2027 presidential election.
“The 2027 political contest should be between Tinubu, Peter Obi, Sowore, Makinde, Adebayo, Duke and other Southern Candidates,” Sani said.
“The South should complete its eight years. Its not constitutional but it’s equitable.
“We should not bury our heads in the sand and deny the realities and complexities of our history.”
Sani further argued that the North should have what he described as an “unchallengeable right” to the presidency in 2031 if the South completes its eight years.
“The North should have an unchallengeable right in 2031,” he stated.
He also warned politicians opposed to respecting power rotation in 2027 that the principle could similarly be disregarded when the presidency is expected to return to the North.
“Those who say there shouldn’t be respect for the principle of Rotation of power in 2027, should know that it WILL NOT be respected in 2031,” Sani added.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Farouk Aliyu, has described the language used by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, against some APC governors as being in “bad taste.”
Aliyu was reacting to Wike’s description of some governors as “419ners” and “lazy” amid the political realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking in an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, the APC chieftain said members of the ruling party rejected Wike’s remarks.
SEE ALSO: 2027: PDP Drops Fresh Revelation on Wike’s Support for Tinubu
“The language Nyesom Wike used to describe governors as ‘419ners’ or ‘lazy’ is in bad taste. All members of the APC reject that comment,” Aliyu said.
Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, has remained active in the political developments ahead of the 2027 elections despite being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He was one of the five PDP governors who formed the G5 during the 2023 election period and openly supported President Bola Tinubu, the APC candidate, during the presidential election.
Following Tinubu’s emergence as president, Wike was appointed Minister of the FCT, a position he has held under the APC-led Federal Government while remaining a PDP member.
His political position ahead of 2027 has continued to attract attention, particularly over his support for Tinubu and his reported efforts to build a broader political coalition.
Wike has previously criticised APC governors who opposed his political moves, questioning their commitment to delivering electoral support for Tinubu.
However, Aliyu said the APC was willing to accommodate politicians from other parties who wanted to support the ruling party.
“However, as a party, the APC welcomes anyone, including Wike and others from different parties, who is willing to support the APC,” he said.
According to him, the party’s concern was to maintain a coordinated campaign structure ahead of the elections.
“But we want a unified campaign structure at the national level and across the states,” Aliyu added.
Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga has questioned Peter Obi’s promise to transform Nigeria, citing what he described as the former Anambra State governor’s record during his eight years in office.
Onanuga made the remarks on Thursday while reacting to the ongoing controversy over Obi’s administration and the financial liabilities allegedly left behind in Anambra State.
“The evidence is clear. If a small, homogenous state like Anambra could not be transformed despite $4.05 billion in spending and massive borrowing, how can the same manager promise to fix a complex federation of 36 states and the FCT?
SEE MORE: ‘This Is Serious’ — Keyamo Reacts as Anambra Govt Releases Fresh Debt Claims Against Peter Obi
“Mr. Obi’s eight years was an unmitigated failure, now masked by revisionism. He should desist from deceiving Nigerians with sanctimonious sermons. The desperation is even clearer in his reported four-year single-term pact with his running mate, in direct contradiction of the two-term, eight-year provision of the 1999 Constitution.”
The comments followed a fresh escalation of the dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the financial position he left behind when he handed over power on March 17, 2014.
The Anambra State Government, through Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation Law Mefor, recently released details of what it said were eight external loans linked to projects under Obi’s administration.
According to the state government, the loans had an outstanding balance of $92.35 million, valued at about N127.4 billion at the official exchange rate as of June 30, 2026.
The government said the original external borrowings amounted to about $123.77 million.
The state also said Obi’s administration spent about $4.05 billion over its eight years in office, a figure it said was equivalent to about N5.4 trillion at the current exchange rate.
It argued that the loans covered areas including malaria control, erosion management, healthcare, education, community development and agriculture.
The controversy intensified after Obi rejected the allegations and maintained that his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears.
Obi also said he left office without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or debts owed to contractors for duly executed and certified projects.
He further disputed the state’s account of an alleged N2.13 billion ecological fund, saying the money had been left untouched in a First Bank account for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
Obi challenged anyone with evidence contradicting his account to produce it, saying he would stop campaigning for the 2027 presidential election if his claims were disproved.
The Anambra Government, however, disputed his explanation, saying the account Obi identified was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and that its records did not show the N2.13 billion he referenced.
The Presidency subsequently entered the dispute, with Onanuga challenging Obi to honour his pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if the claims against his administration were established.
Obi’s media aide, Idris Zekeri Jnr, meanwhile, said a team of former officials who worked with Obi was preparing a detailed response to the Anambra Government’s claims.
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