• The former president weighs the party options
• APC makes fun of him, he says he can’t defeat Tinubu
On Friday there were reports that a powerful group within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is attracting former President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2027 presidential race.
A close source of both the former president and ADC on Friday on Saturday Tribune that the former president is being seriously run in the next presidential surveys.
The source confirmed that the key figures in the ADC felt comfortable with having Jonathan as his presidential candidate and, in fact, they had contacted him.
He, however, said that the former president was divided between his loyalty to the Democratic Party of the Peoples (PDP) “who did it” and the ADC that, he said, had the potential to win the elections if he obtains the correct candidate.
“Former President Goodluck Jonathan is worried that certain people with strong links with the town still have control of the PDP and can spoil it if you are looking for the ticket of that party,” said the source.
He added that Jonathan’s only problem is that “he does not want to play against Peter Obi because he believes that the IGBO people supported him in 2015 even more than his own people from Ijaw.”
While emphatically said that Jonathan would run, except that he could not find a platform, the source added that “if you choose our party (ADC), we will locate the presidency to the south. If it does not come to us, we will not have an option to go to the north because the policy is about numbers and winners.”
Jonathan can’t defeat Tinubu –apc
Meanwhile, the ruler Congress of all progressives (APC) has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan cannot defeat his candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the presidential elections in 2027.
The Chapter of the State of Lagos of the Party said Friday that he had observed with great interest the growing speculations around the possible return of former President Jonathan to the 2027 presidential race and, therefore, made submission.
The Nigeria news agency (NAN) reports that Jonathan, who lost its re -election offer in 2015 before the late President Muhammadu Buhari, is being persuaded by supporters to seek re -election in the general elections of 2027.
NAN reported that the APC spokesman in the state of Lagos, Seye Oladejo, in a statement on Friday that indicated that the political relevance of the former president to disregard President Bola Tinubu, was still in doubt.
“While we recognize the role of the former president in the Pacific Democratic Transition of 2015, an act that really earned him praise in the country and abroad, we must declare, in clear terms, that Nigeria has been seen beyond the policy of feeling, nostalgia and symbolism.
Read too: Tinubu does not prescribe me to do something incorrect – NNPC ojulari
“Today’s challenges and the future require bold leadership, capable and vision of the future, not a return to the comfort of a past that was far from being perfect.
“That is clear: good luck alone is not a government strategy,” he said.
Oladejo claimed that the Jonathan administration, from 2010 to 2015, left behind a country with severe structural weaknesses, from corruption without control to alarming insecurity and economic inertia.
“While some can look back in those years with pink glasses, we must remind us that nostalgia is not a policy platform.
“Emotion cannot boost economic reform, and sentimentality will not fix energy generation, insecurity, youth unemployment or decomposition of the education sector,” said the APC leader.
Oladejo said the party also pointed out the constitutional and political complications of a possible candidacy of Jonathan.
According to him, after having completed more than one period in the position, any return offer will inevitably trigger legal containment and political instability: the distractions that Nigeria cannot pay at a time when decisive action is needed in all sectors of national life.
“In addition, the political relevance of the former president has been complicated by his recent commitments in the lines of the party.
“His flirting with the APC and the absence of the strategic efforts of reconstruction of the PDP ask questions about their loyalty, clarity of vision and political intentions,” he said.
According to him, the APC is still focused on consolidating progress, implementing reforms and involving the Nigerian electorate with new ideas and credible candidates that reflect the aspirations of a dynamic and youth population.
“We believe that Nigeria’s future does not lies in recycled leadership but in visionary governance rooted in integrity, innovation and resilience.
“Former President Jonathan is still a respected major statesman. His legacy as a Pacific Democrat is assured. But the legacies are not manifest, and nostalgia is not a governance.
“We urge the Nigerians to reject emotional shortcuts and stay focused on the need for capable, responsible and transformative leadership.
“As 2027 approaches, let’s not reach back in despair, but we advance with courage and clarity,” said Oladejo.
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