To form a formidable opposition against the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and beat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election, supporters of former President Goodluck Jonathan have started wooing key aspirants to back his ambition.
With the APC hierarchy endorsing President Tinubu for re-election; and main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, zoning its ticket to the South, the 2027 presidential race is panning out as a Southern affair.
For weeks now, a host of PDP top shots, especially from the North, have been pressuring Jonathan to join the race.
Before then, some PDP bigwigs had also been wooing former Anambra State governor and 2023 presidential standard bearer of Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, to return to the PDP.
Obi left the PDP in 2022 to join LP and clinched the party’s presidential ticket. Obi is among a host of opposition politicians supporting a grand coalition to square against the APC in 2027.
He is also among those backing the African Democratic Congress, ADC, coalition that has the likes of former Rivers State governor and immediate past Transport Minister, Mr Rotimi Amaechi; former Senate President, David Mark; former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola; and former Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai.
Asked at various times if he would return to the PDP or join the ADC, Obi who has been strident in his criticisms of the Tinubu administration, pointedly said he is for any move that will save the country from the APC.
Among Southern politicians nursing the ambition of confronting Tinubu are Mr Peter Obi; Mr Rotimi Amaechi; and Oyo State governor, Mr Seyi Makinde.
Sources told Vanguard, yesterday, that as part of his extensive consultations, former President Jonathan’s camp has started reaching out to key aspirants and has met Obi “to step down for Jonathan.”
There were speculations last night that Jonathan had met Obi in person to discuss the issue but sources close to the former Anambra State governor said no such meeting had been held.
“It is true that Jonathan’s people want Obi to step down for him but Jonathan himself is yet to meet Obi. I can assure you that Obi is committed to his cause of rescuing Nigeria,” the source said.
Best Southern aspirant
Jonathan’s backers said he remains the best Southern politician that can stop Tinubu at the polls because, if elected, he cannot do more than four years, which will pave the way for the prevailing North-South power rotation principle to be sustained.
In view of the power rotation principle, Mr Obi said recently that he would serve for a term of four years and not seek a second term, if elected.
The declaration elicited mixed views in the polity, with some saying many politicians made similar promises in the past but did not keep them, hence the need to go for a candidate that cannot do more than four years.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who ran on the platform of the PDP in 2023 but recently defected to ADC, has also promised to do one term, if elected.
However, those opposed to Jonathan said the PDP risks losing in court if it fields the former president because of eligibility.
Following an amendment by the National Assembly, which was signed into law by late former President Muhmmadu Buhari on June 7, 2018, Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution stops anyone who had been sworn-in twice as president to contest the presidency.
Jonathan, who was vice to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was first sworn-in in 2010 when Yar’Adua passed on.
He won his first election in 2011 and was sworn-in again. He contested for a second term in 2015 but lost to Buhari, the first time an incumbent president lost an election in Nigeria.
His eligibility to run has been a subject of controversy since 2022 and lawyers are sharply divided on the issue.
While some said he is eligible to contest because the law took effect from June 7, 2018, more than three years after he left office and cannot be applied retroactively, others said the constitution is clear that no one should be sworn-in more than twice.
Going further, anti-Jonathan pundits posited that the issue will be a subject of litigation if Jonathan was handed the PDP ticket and goes on to win, adding that it is difficult to predict the decision of the courts with certainty.
According to them, if the court holds that Jonathan is not eligible after the poll, the PDP and key politicians who stepped down for him would all lose out.
