Former Edo State governor and current senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has cautioned ex-President Goodluck Jonathan against yielding to pressure to contest in the 2027 presidential election, saying such a move could tarnish the goodwill he has built since leaving office.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Oshiomhole stated that only those who do not wish Jonathan well would encourage him to return to the race.
“I have a lot of respect for him. Now, how can Jonathan be a threat? We defeated him before when PDP was truly PDP. If a man had a PDP at his best, at his peak and he was defeated, I think only his enemy will push him to go into the race.
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“There are other issues that may not be helpful to him. I think he has managed to demonstrate that out of power, you can be relevant and be at peace,” he said.
The senator noted that Jonathan has remained respected both within and outside Nigeria since leaving office in 2015 and urged him to preserve that legacy rather than pursue another presidential ambition.
“If I were able to advise him, I will say sir, maintain this status. If I were him, I will spend the rest of my life trying to find relevance which he has already found.
“But we will defeat him if he comes out flatly, very flatly, because now the South are no longer PDP, so where is he going to start from,” he added.
Jonathan, who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, lost to then-candidate Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In recent months, speculation about a possible 2027 comeback by the former president has intensified following claims by some of his associates that he is being persuaded to return to the race. Jonathan, however, has not made any official statement confirming such intentions.
