Shehu Sani Advises Goodluck Jonathan Against 2027 Presidential Run, Cites PDP Disunity
Former Senator Shehu Sani has urged ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to refrain from contesting the 2027 presidential election, warning that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which Jonathan rode to victory in 2011, is no longer the unified force it once was.
Speaking on the political landscape, Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, stated, “Each time there is an election, Jonathan’s name comes up, but I advise him not to contest. The PDP he used to know is not the PDP now. The PDP in the South-West is endorsing the president, and some members are in the coalition. So, he shouldn’t waste his time.”
Jonathan, who served as vice president under Umaru Yar’adua before assuming the presidency on May 6, 2010, following Yar’adua’s death, won the 2011 election on the PDP platform and governed until May 29, 2015. He lost his re-election bid in 2015 to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Constitutionally, Jonathan remains eligible for one more four-year term, though he has not publicly expressed interest in running again.
Speculation about Jonathan’s potential return has intensified ahead of 2027, fueled by discussions of a single-term Southern presidency and the emergence of a new opposition coalition led by the African Democratic Congress (ADC). However, Sani criticized the coalition, arguing it lacks ideological distinction from President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“We are in a democracy, and opposition is within our rights, but if their only goal is to remove Tinubu without offering an alternative to his governance style, they have no agenda,” Sani said. “The coalition members are not ideologically or philosophically different from Tinubu’s programs, like devaluation and subsidy removal.”
Sani’s remarks highlight the challenges facing opposition efforts and Jonathan’s potential candidacy in a fragmented political environment as Nigeria approaches the 2027 elections.
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