Jonathan free to contest 2027, but Nigerians will remember his dismal performance

By Kunle Sanni –

The Presidency has said former President Goodluck Jonathan is free to contest the 2027 presidential election but insisted that Nigerians will not forget his performance in office between 2010 and 2015.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, stated this in a press release on Monday, while reacting to reports that former Information Minister, Professor Jerry Gana, was leading efforts to draft Jonathan into the race on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Onanuga dismissed the move as unrealistic, stressing that while Jonathan had the constitutional right to run again, his time in office left what he described as a “dismal record” that voters rejected in 2015.

“President Jonathan will wholeheartedly be welcomed into the race if he so wishes, but he will face Nigerians who remember his six years in power. The nation’s economic downturn began under his administration, and the people voted him out in 2015,” the statement read in part.

The Presidency contrasted Jonathan’s record with President Tinubu’s ongoing reforms, citing improvements in GDP growth, inflation, and foreign reserves, alongside major infrastructure projects.

Onanuga maintained that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would not stop Jonathan from running but argued that his return would be judged against his previous tenure.

“President Jonathan and others are welcome to the 2027 race. They broke the economy before, but millions of Nigerians, who will not easily forget the recent past, will not allow them to return and run it down again,” he said.

Jonathan served as Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015, first completing the tenure of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua before winning election in 2011. His administration ended after he lost to Muhammadu Buhari of the APC in the 2015 general election, marking the first time an incumbent president was defeated at the polls in Nigeria’s history.