2027 Election: Presidency Speaks on What Would Happen If Jonathan Decides to Run Against Tinubu
- Special adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on policy communication, Daniel Bwala, ruled out the possibility of any political figure, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, defeating Tinubu in the 2027 election
- Bwala, who was a guest on Channels Television’s 'Politics Today', was asked if there is a need to worry over the recent clamour for Jonathan to run for office in 2027
- Some political stakeholders have claimed that Jonathan would be one of the leading candidates to confront incumbent President Tinubu in the 2027 general election
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics, elections, and governance in Nigeria.
FCT, Abuja - Barrister Daniel Bwala, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on policy communication has declared that "there is not a single politician that has the capacity to knock off" his principal in the 2027 election.
Legit.ng reports that rumours swirled in Nigeria over a possible 2027 presidential run by ex-leader Goodluck Jonathan.
Source: Facebook
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday night, August 13, monitored by Legit.ng, Bwala spoke on if a Jonathan comeback bid could rattle President Tinubu.
Recently, former Jigawa state governor, Sule Lamido, threw his weight behind Jonathan as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP's) strongest option for the 2027 presidential election.
This is as he urged the party to “woo” him back into its fold.
Reacting to the calls for Jonathan to contest against Tinubu, Bwala said:
"I see that some unscrupulous elements are trying to hoodwink former President Goodluck Jonathan to come into politics so that they can destroy his reputation, which after he left government he has been building by becoming an international figure globally."
Bwala explained that Tinubu has 'captured' the south south geopolitical zone where Jonathan comes from.
He continued:
"The elements that are going to him in the north, asking him to run, where they not the ones that chased him away? So, what hope does he have that this time around, they are calling him because they mean well for him?
"Then, look at the political class that are coming together to cajole him to come into politics. I know former President Goodluck Jonathan is smarter than that. But if former President Jonathan decides to run, let me tell you, I have seen the political climate in Nigeria today, and I will speak to facts, not conjectures, there is not a single politician that has the capacity to knock off President Bola Tinubu - in all fronts."
Bwala's interview can be watched below:
Can Jonathan run for president again?
Jonathan lost his second-term bid to now-late former President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election.
Legit.ng recalls that amid the debate on whether Jonathan was eligible to run again or not, having taken the oath of office twice as president, the federal high court in Bayelsa state had ruled in 2022 that Jonathan could still contest the presidential election.
Source: Facebook
The presiding judge, Justice Dashen, who gave the judgement, held that Jonathan’s right could not be stopped by any retroactive law.
According to him, the 2007 general election produced the late Umaru Yar’Adua as president and not Jonathan, stressing that Section 137 could not have a retroactive effect to stop him from contesting for presidency.
Dashen ruled that there was no presidential election conducted in the country in 2010 and Jonathan could not be deemed to have been sworn into the office of the president that year.
Omokri speaks on Jonathan and Peter Obi
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that former presidential aide Reno Omokri said Jonathan has neither endorsed nor aligned forces with Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
Omokri who said on his verified X handle clarified that an April 2025 photograph showing Messrs Jonathan and Obi 'does not signal anything political'.
Source: Legit.ng
