{"id":95216,"date":"2025-09-29T21:01:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T21:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95216"},"modified":"2025-09-29T21:01:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T21:01:17","slug":"2027-race-jonathan-welcome-but-nigerians-wont-forget-his-record-presidency-fires-back-at-pdp-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95216","title":{"rendered":"2027 Race: Jonathan welcome, but Nigerians won\u2019t forget his record \u2013 Presidency fires back at PDP plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

As political undercurrents stir ahead of Nigeria\u2019s 2027 general elections, the presidency has responded sharply to recent moves by key opposition figures seeking to draft former President Goodluck Jonathan back into the presidential race.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement released by <\/span>Bayo Onanuga<\/b><\/span>, Special Adviser to President <\/span>Bola Tinubu<\/b><\/span> on Information and Strategy, the presidency dismissed suggestions that Jonathan would be a viable contender, calling his administration a period of \u201ceconomic ruin\u201d and “disastrous six years” that Nigerians would not want to relive.<\/span><\/p>\n

The response comes after <\/span>Professor Jerry Gana<\/b><\/span>, a former Minister of Information and key figure in the opposition <\/span>People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP)<\/b><\/span>, declared support for Jonathan\u2019s return to the ballot. Gana reportedly expressed confidence that Jonathan could defeat Tinubu in 2027 \u2014 a claim Onanuga called \u201cabsurd\u201d and a \u201ccomedic delusion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJonathan is welcome to the race if he wishes. But Nigerians will remember his dismal record in office,\u201d the statement read.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Look Back to Look Forward<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

According to Onanuga, President Tinubu and his administration are not threatened by Jonathan\u2019s potential candidacy. However, he warned the former president against being misled by what he called \u201cPDP sugar-coated cheerleaders\u201d who, he alleged, abandoned Jonathan in 2015 and could do so again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Onanuga also raised constitutional concerns over Jonathan\u2019s eligibility to contest, citing that he has been sworn in twice as President \u2014 once after President Umaru Musa Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s death in 2010, and again after the 2011 general election. He said the matter would be for the courts to decide, should Jonathan formally enter the race.<\/span><\/p>\n

Economic Scorecards Compared<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The presidency used the opportunity to juxtapose what it claims are the failings of Jonathan\u2019s government with the “giant economic strides” of Tinubu’s ongoing administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Highlights from the statement include:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Jonathan-era critiques:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Mismanagement of oil revenue during a boom period (average $100\/barrel from 2010\u20132013).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Depletion of foreign reserves from $66 billion to below $30 billion by 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Inability to pay federal worker salaries by the end of his term.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Massive security funds allegedly misused under NSA Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Rampant fuel import fraud and foreign exchange abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Tinubu-era achievements (as stated by the presidency):<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Fuel subsidy removal and FX reform to unify rates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 GDP growth of <\/span>4.23% in Q2 2025<\/b><\/span> \u2013 the highest in four years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Inflation dropped to <\/span>20.12% in August 2025<\/b><\/span>, the lowest in three years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Foreign reserves rising to <\/span>$42.03 billion<\/b><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Key infrastructure projects such as the <\/span>Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway<\/b><\/span> and <\/span>Sokoto-Badagry Highway<\/b><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Renewed investor confidence and macroeconomic stability.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bigger Picture: A Warning to the Opposition<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

In a tone mixing sarcasm with stern warning, Onanuga accused the opposition of prematurely heating up the polity, motivated by desperation to regain power rather than genuine national interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey broke the economy. President Tinubu is fixing it,\u201d Onanuga declared.<\/span>
\n\u201cNigerians… will not allow them to return and run it down again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the 2027 elections are still over a year away, the statement signals that political battle lines are already being drawn \u2014 with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) making it clear it intends to defend Tinubu\u2019s record fiercely.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether Jonathan will heed the call to contest again remains to be seen. But what\u2019s certain is that the road to 2027 is shaping up to be anything but quiet.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As political undercurrents stir ahead of Nigeria\u2019s 2027 general elections, the presidency has responded sharply to recent moves by key opposition figures seeking to draft former President Goodluck Jonathan back into the presidential race. In a statement released by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, the presidency dismissed suggestions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[147,303,56],"class_list":["post-95216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-jonathan","tag-presidency","tag-tinubu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}