- Adams Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo State, advises ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to protect his political reputation.
- Oshiomhole suggests Jonathan should resist pressure to run in the 2027 presidential election.
- He believes any attempts to encourage Jonathan to enter the race are from individuals with ill intentions towards him.
Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has advised ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to safeguard his political reputation by resisting any pressure to contest in the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the former All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman stated that any attempt to lure Jonathan back into the race would only come from those who do not wish him well.
Oshiomhole argued that both the APC and President Bola Tinubu would easily defeat Jonathan if he decided to run again, noting that the former president’s political influence in the South-South region had waned since leaving office.
He said:
“How can Jonathan be a threat? We defeated him before when PDP was truly PDP. If a man had PDP at its best, at its peak, and he was defeated, I think only his enemy will push him to go into election.
If I were able to advise him, I will say, Sir, maintain this status. You governed for eight years, you don’t have to govern for nine. Jonathan has managed to demonstrate that out of power, you can be relevant and at peace.
We will defeat him if he comes out very flatly because now the South-South is no longer PDP. So where is he going to start from?
Looking at how he ascended to that office, if I were him, I will spend the end of my life trying to find relevance, which he has already found, and speaking because that conceding defeat, and that memorable quote about my blood sorry, blood of a Nigerian is not worth my ambition, he should just allow those legacies to be.”
Jonathan’s 2015 Defeat to Buhari
Jonathan, who ran under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 presidential election, lost to then APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari.
Despite the advantages of incumbency, Jonathan was voted out by millions of Nigerians in what became one of the most significant political upsets in the nation’s history.
His administration faced strong opposition, particularly over the proposed removal of fuel subsidy a policy heavily criticized by the then-opposition figure, Bola Tinubu.
Jonathan’s government also struggled with widespread insecurity, notably the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls by the Boko Haram insurgent group in Borno State.
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