KEY POINTS

• Goodluck Jonathan plans to contest the 2027 presidential election on the PDP platform, sources close to him told Vanguard.
• Nine groups, mainly from the north, are jostling to buy his N100 million PDP nomination form before tomorrow’s deadline.
• Stakeholders are split, with Afenifere saying he weighed his chances while Middle Belt Forum and APGA founder urged him to stay out.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan plans to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, sources close to his team have told Vanguard, in a move that has triggered a scramble among at least nine groups to buy his N100 million nomination form before tomorrow’s deadline.

Jonathan, who handed power to Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, would join an already crowded 2027 field that includes incumbent President Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, if he formally enters the race.

Now the development has split commentators across the country, with some treating it as a constitutional right Jonathan is entitled to exercise and others warning that the former president risks tarnishing the elder-statesman image he has built since 2015.

Nine groups, one form

Specifically, the Turaki-led PDP has confirmed that Jonathan completed online registration earlier this year and meets the conditions to fly the party flag. PDP spokesman Ini Ememobong said no denial of his membership has come from his media team or close associates.

Indeed, sources said groups including the Goodluckan Movement, the Coalition for Jonathan, the Goodies Movement, The New Nigeria, the Almajiri Network, Arewa for Good Governance, the Northern Youth Alliance for Good Governance, the Northern Coalition for Goodluck Jonathan, Arewa for Better Government and the North Youth Progressive Movement are each pledging to raise the N100 million required for the form.

Moreover, the diaspora-led Goodluckan Movement is claiming the form on the grounds that it represents Nigerians worldwide more broadly than the northern groups pushing for the ticket.

A court fight on eligibility

Today, Jonathan has also approached a Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge a lawyer who asked the court to bar him from contesting on the grounds that he has already served two terms. The eligibility question stems from his completion of the late Umaru Yar’Adua’s term followed by his own elected term that ended in 2015.

Furthermore, in 2022 a northern Almajiri group obtained a N100 million APC form on Jonathan’s behalf, which he later disowned and never submitted, an episode that shadows the current push.

Reactions split the room

Reacting through Vanguard, Afenifere leader Oba Oladipo Olaitan said Jonathan must have weighed his chances, although he doubted the former president could defeat Tinubu. “I do not think he can face the Bola Tinubu’s government,” Olaitan said.

However, Middle Belt Forum president Bitrus Pogu urged Jonathan to steer clear of what he called “dirty politics.” Pogu said the political climate is too toxic for the statesman to risk his reputation.

Meanwhile, All Progressives Grand Alliance founder Chekwas Okorie called the prospect a “catastrophic misadventure” 11 years after Jonathan left office, citing the dignity with which the former president accepted defeat in 2015.

A senior Christian Association of Nigeria leader warned that Jonathan’s return could “overheat the system” and split the opposition vote across regions. If Jonathan takes the South-South, Obi the South-East, Atiku and Kwankwaso the North, the cleric said, Tinubu will sweep through the gap.

PDP insider warns

Diran Odeyemi, the Wike-led PDP National Treasurer, labeled Goodluck Jonathan a passive party member since 2015. Odeyemi warned Jonathan against political associates who might deceive him. “He should not allow others to deceive him or use him for political games,” Odeyemi stated.

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum reiterated its insistence that the 2027 presidency must remain zoned to the south, while former presidential adviser Akin Osuntokun raised constitutional doubts about Jonathan’s eligibility.

Together, the reactions paint a divided opposition camp ahead of a fast-approaching deadline. Yet for now, Jonathan’s team appears to have made up its mind, with his nomination form, his court case and his groups of supporters all moving in the same direction.