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The main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has shot down reports that it invited former President Goodluck Jonathan to jostle for the 2027 presidency on its platform.
The PDP said that though Jonathan, as a member, is eligible to contest and needs no invitation, it boasts 12 governors and many competent people eligible enough to represent the party in the next presidential election.
Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, made this known during an interview with BBC Hausa, where he vehemently denied that the party had offered its ticket to Jonathan.
According to him “The report that PDP has issued its presidential ticket to former President Goodluck Jonathan or invited him to contest the 2027 presidential election is not true.
“What happened is this: I had an interview with a journalist where we discussed some issues. But in the course of the interview, he mentioned President Jonathan, asking about our opinion of him, because there are reports that he is being urged to run for the presidency.
“I responded by saying that he (Jonathan) is eligible to contest the election, because he is a Nigerian and has the right to do that by the provision of the law, and he still has one more term left. So, there is nothing wrong about him contesting the presidential election because he is eligible in the face of the law.”
PDP says no need to woo Jonathan
Abdullahi stressed that PDP had done enough for Jonathan and as a member of their party, there was no way they would woo him.
While reiterating that the party has yet to discuss the issue with the former President, the spokesman noted that Jonathan's wife recently declared that nothing would convince her husband to contest for the presidency again.
“It wasn’t long ago that his wife said nothing would make her husband run for the presidency, that he didn’t leave behind or forget anything in the Villa for people to think that he’d come back to contest the position again. How then can we consider him? A ticket is given to someone who has shown interest,” he added.