Jonathan to Keyamo, Odinkalu: Keep off my political journey
The unofficial race for the 2027 presidential election continued yesterday, with former President Goodluck Jonathan berating Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN; and Professor Chidi Odinkalu, a law teacher, over their opposition to his presidential bid, and warned them to keep off his political journey.
Messrs Keyamo and Odinkalu had warned the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, not to give its presidential ticket to Jonathan to actualise his rumoured plan to return to the presidency in 2027.
In separate media posts, Keyamo and Odinkalu contended that Jonathan’s attempt to contest the 2027 presidential election will face a legal challenge as he had been sworn in twice.
However, Jonathan, responding through his brother, Robert Azibaola, warned the two legal practitioners to steer clear of his bid to return to the Presidency, arguing that it is none of their business to dabble into it.
According to him, Jonathan is qualified to run.
This came on a day the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, said former President Jonathan is being deceived to run and cautioned that handing former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, a presidential ticket will spell doom for the PDP.
Boasting about President Bola Tinubu’s re-election chances, Wike, who said he is ready to place a bet, also dismissed former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s claim that President Tinubu will come a distant third in the 2027 presidential election, describing the assertion as faulty and mathematically inaccurate.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said Nigerians, not the All Progressives Congress, APC, or the opposition PDP will determine the outcome of the 2027 presidential election.
Jonathan doesn’t need Keyamo, Odinkalu’s counsel — Azibaola
Azibaola wrote on his verified Facebook page yesterday: “Dear Festus Keyamo, SAN, Chidi Odinkalu (Prof.) I greet both of you.
“For the record, three of us are lawyers. We all were pro-demcracy activists in the 90s, and I was a better activist than both of you combined.“Rule No. I: Do not offer legal advice where none is solicited. GEJ (PDP) has numerous, more cerebral, more experienced SANs at his disposal that give him sound, unblemished, professional legal advice only. “Please note: GEJ is 100% constitutionally and legally qualified to contest, if he chooses to. If he chooses not to yield to the overwhelming calls to run, it would not be because he is not qualified.
“Your screwed, unsolicited legal view is not of any concern in his bucket list, and it will never be. Don’t waste your precious time dwelling on this.
“Or should I schedule a meeting with me so you can get properly educated on the subsisting court judgments on this, one of which your party, APC, was a party?
“I beg una, make we no dey put too much water inside belle for another person disco dance, make long line no form for latrine door). This is not a confirmation that GEJ is running, though,” Azibaola wrote.
Although Jonathan has not yet officially declared to run for the 2027 election, opponents in other politi
cal parties have already begun to attack his candidacy, arguing that he should not return so as not to jeopardise the chances of the South to maintain the presidency.
It is still unclear, though, if the former president, who is being wooed by some PDP leaders will run or not, given what appears as early attempts by some elements to shoot his ambition down before he even makes a formal declaration.
Jonathan’s being misled — Wike
Speaking in a televised media chat, yesterday, Wike accused some PDP leaders of arrogance and a lack of integrity, stressing that the party had failed to learn from its past mistakes.
He warned that for the 2027 presidential election, Jonathan is being misled by some political hawks into contesting.
His words: “In the road up to 2023, I told my colleagues that PDP was shooting itself in the foot. You cannot have the presidential candidate and, at the same time, the national chairman of the party. They stole the presidential ticket and also took the national chairmanship. I said it would purge them, and it did. I have no regrets.”
He further cautioned Jonathan not to allow himself to be used again by politicians who deceived him in the past.
“I know Jonathan very well. He has international respect and should maintain that. These same people weighing Jonathan down are the ones who played him in 2015.
They are only trying to cause confusion in the party,” Wike added. He also criticised Nigeria’s political culture, noting that candidates who lose elections rarely accept defeat without raising allegations against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. “Tell me which election INEC conducted that people didn’t complain about. Is there anybody who has lost an election in this country and has come out to concede, apart from Jonathan? Mention one,” he staTES
The minister urged politicians to emulate former President Jonathan who conceded defeat in 2015, stressing that Nigerians must stop making excuses after elections.
“We have this spirit of always complaining. I don’t like excuses. What I cannot achieve, I will say it is not possible. But people must also learn to concede for the sake of national interest,” Wike added.
‘Drafting Obi, recipe for disaster’
Wike dismissed moves by some stakeholders to draft Obi into the 2027 race, describing it as a recipe for disaster.
“Bring Obi to where? You want to kill the party, even more? Obi was the one abusing the PDP, calling it rotten.
Now, is the same party good enough for him to pursue ambition? Ambition can even make people go to Satan’s house. If you want to destroy this party, dare it. Let Obi come, there is nowhere he will go,” Wike declared.
El-Rufai wrong about Tinubu’s chances
Wike also faulted el-Rufai’s claim that President Tinubu will come third in the 2027 presidential election, saying el-Rufai “failed in his mathematics” by predicting Tinubu’s third-place finish without identifying who will come first and second.
‘’He goofed. He should have completed it since he claimed Tinubu will come third. How did he arrive at who would be third without arriving at who would be first and second?”
The minister said he is confident about Tinubu’s chances during the election, adding “I will put a bet,Tinubu will win this election squarely.”
On suggestions of a possible runoff, Wike said “which runoff? With who? It is not possi
ble.”
I’m not running
The FCT minister also rejected insinuations that he harbours presidential ambitions, ahead of 2027, saying his position had always been clear.
“I have integrity, I have character. The person who appointed me is there. We are saying he should run. Then I will turn around to say I want to run? What kind of thing is that? How will my children even look at me? I will not run for president,” he stressed.
Nigerians, not APC or PDP, will decide 2027 — Atiku
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said Nigerians would determine th
e outcome of the 2027 presidential election, not the APC or PDP
Atiku’s Media Adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, stated this in an exclusive interview with Vanguard in Abuja yesterday, insisting that the African Democratic Congress, ADC, coalition being built ahead of 2027 is people-driven and already attracting broad support from political stakeholders and civil society groups.
“The APC and PDP may have dominated politics for a while, but what is crystal clear, and more important, is the fact that Nigerians themselves are the real force, and they will determine what happens in 2027.
“The APC may think it will continue to dominate the political space called Nigeria, but no, the people are the ones who will always remain, as long as Nigeria exists. The most important element is the Nigerian people,” Ibe said.
He explained that there was growing enthusiasm among Nigerians to take control of their destinies, noting that various groups had begun aligning with the coalition.
Ibe pointed to recent political realignments as evidence of the coalition’s momentum, disclosing a major development occurred in Lagos where thousands of PDP stakeholders formally defected to the ADC.
“We saw what happened in Lagos recently, where 5,000 critical stakeholders and PDP leaders transferred their services and assets to the ADC. Many more are on their way. A lot is happening, yes,” he noted.
With defections gathering pace and civic groups rallying behind the coalition, Ibe maintained that the political dynamics ahead of 2027 pointed to a contest where the will of Nigerians, not the dominance of APC or PDP, would shape the outcome.
