The Presidency has reacted to reports that former President Goodluck Jonathan will contest the 2027 presidential election, saying while he has the right to run, only the courts can decide if he meets constitutional requirements after being sworn in twice as president.
In a statement on Monday, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, said Jonathan’s entry into the race would test constitutional interpretation on whether someone who has held the office twice is eligible for another term.
Onanuga accused the opposition of desperation, alleging that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its leaders, including former Information Minister Jerry Gana, are attempting to use Jonathan to reclaim power despite the party’s “legacy of economic ruins.”
“Professor Jerry Gana is free to delude himself with the claim that Jonathan would defeat President Tinubu in 2027,” the statement read. “But we must remind the former president to be wary of PDP cheerleaders who abandoned him in 2015 and are only pushing him now for selfish political, religious, and ethnic interests.”
While noting that Jonathan has an inalienable right to contest, the Presidency insisted his candidacy would face a judicial test. “The jury will determine whether Jonathan, who was sworn in twice as president, satisfies the constitutional requirements to run again and be sworn in for a third term,” it said.
The statement also criticized Jonathan’s record in office, accusing his administration of mismanaging the economy, depleting reserves, and leaving behind a legacy of corruption and unpaid salaries despite record oil revenues.
“In 2010, Jonathan inherited $66 billion in reserves and the Excess Crude Account but left less than $30 billion in reserves and only $2 billion in the account by 2015,” Onanuga stated. “His government mismanaged resources and engaged in frivolous spending, leaving the economy in dire straits.”
By contrast, Onanuga said President Tinubu has taken “bold reforms” since 2023, including subsidy removal and exchange rate unification, which he claimed have restored investor confidence, stabilised the naira, and boosted GDP growth to 4.23% in the second quarter of 2025.
“President Jonathan and others are welcome to the 2027 race,” the Presidency concluded. “But Nigerians who remember the economic collapse under his watch will not allow the PDP to return and run down the country again.”
