Jonathan’s Enemies Are the Ones Urging Him to Contest in 2027, Says Oshiomhole

Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has cautioned former President Goodluck Jonathan against yielding to pressure to contest the 2027 presidential election, arguing that doing so would tarnish his legacy.

Speaking on a television programme on Sunday, Oshiomhole said that only those who do not have Jonathan’s best interest at heart would encourage him to re-enter the race, stressing that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would easily defeat him if he did.

“How can Jonathan be a threat? We defeated him before when PDP was at its strongest,” Oshiomhole remarked. “If he couldn’t win at the peak of the party, then only his enemies would urge him to contest again.”

The former APC national chairman urged Jonathan to preserve his image as a statesman, highlighting the respect he earned by conceding defeat in 2015. “If I were to advise him, I’d say, Sir, maintain this status. You governed for eight years; you don’t need to govern for nine,” he said.

Oshiomhole commended Jonathan’s concession speech in 2015 as one of his most defining legacies, describing it as a memorable act of patriotism. “That statement about no Nigerian blood being worth his ambition is historic. He should allow those legacies to stand,” he added.

He also argued that Jonathan’s political base in the South-South has weakened since leaving office, making a comeback unfeasible. “We will defeat him flatly if he runs because the South-South is no longer firmly PDP. So where will he start from?” Oshiomhole asked.

Jonathan, who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lost the 2015 presidential election to the late Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.