The Presidency has welcomed former President Goodluck Jonathan to the 2027 presidential election race, identifying the ambition as an inalienable right to contest.
While acknowledging Goodluck Jonathan’s right to contest, Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement on Monday that the ex-president still faces legal questions over eligibility for another term, having been sworn in twice already.
He also cautioned the ex-president Jonathan to beware of “sugar-coated cheerleaders” in the People’s Democratic Party who, he said, would abandon him midstream just as they did in 2015.
“One recent statement that stands out in its absurdity is Professor Jerry Gana’s. The former Minister of Information and National Orientation, moving to draft former President Goodluck Jonathan into the 2007 presidential race, affirmed that the former president would contest the coming election on the platform of the discredited People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which bequeathed a legacy of economic ruins, after 16 years of bad governance.
“Don’t get us wrong: President Jonathan reserves the right to run if he wishes. It is his inalienable right to contest the presidency again. President Tinubu will wholeheartedly welcome him if he decides to enter the race. But Jonathan will have his date in the court of the land. Indeed, the jury will determine whether Jonathan, who was sworn in twice as president, satisfies the constitutional requirements and is eligible to contest the presidency and be sworn in, if successful, for a third term in office.
“Shorn of all those selfish considerations for which some PDP big guns find his candidacy appealing, President Jonathan will also have his encounter with the people as to whether he has anything new to offer after his disastrous six years, for which they voted him out in 2015.
“Let us remind ourselves about Jonathan’s record. We cannot forget in a hurry how his regime, devoid of any clear economic agenda, engaged in frivolous spending, ran the economy aground and put the country in dire straits.
“President Jonathan and others are welcome to the 2027 race. They broke the economy before, but millions of Nigerians who will not easily forget the recent past will not allow them to return to run it down again,” the statement reads.
The Presidential aide criticised former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana, for suggesting that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan should contest the 2027 elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He cautioned that Nigerians would not entrust the nation’s future to “the very hands that wrecked it.”
Mr Onanuga dismissed Prof. Gana’s remarks as “absurd and delusional,” accusing the PDP of attempting to prematurely drag the country into election fever despite President Tinubu’s “giant economic strides.”
He said; “Gana even deluded himself, asserting that the former President would defeat President Tinubu to reclaim power after 12 years.
“Prof. Gana of the defunct MAMSER fame is free to delude himself and engage in his usual comedy; after all, Jonathan’s entering the race would provide another job for the Niger State-born former university don.
“However, we should caution former President Jonathan to be wary of the PDP sugar-coated cheerleaders. Politicians of Jerry Gana’s ilk merely want to lure him into the race to satisfy their personal, political, religious, and ethnic interests. They will abandon him midstream, as they did in 2015, and leave Gentleman Jonathan in the lurch.
“Jerry Gana and his co-travellers can continue with their empty noise. Nigerians know better. They will not forget how the PDP ran the country aground. If Jonathan chooses to return in 2027, he will face both the courts and the people. And the people will reject him again.”
Onanuga described Jonathan’s six-year presidency as a period of “economic ruins, reckless spending, and squandered oil wealth.
According to him, ex -president Jonathan inherited $66 billion in reserves in 2010 but left office in 2015 with less than $30 billion and an Excess Crude Account depleted to just $2 billion despite years of record oil revenues.
“The nation’s economic downturn, which President Tinubu is working very hard to overcome, actually began under President Jonathan. The Jonathan administration severely damaged the economy, and all key indicators declined under his watch. Under him, the so-called business moguls allocated foreign exchange to import fuel, simply pocketing the dollars without importing anything. Some of those big men still have court cases on the issue today.
“Jonathan and his National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), freely distributed security funds to friends and cronies.
“In 2010, President Jonathan inherited a total of $66 billion, of which $46 billion was in foreign reserves and $20 billion in the noble-but-abused Excess Crude Account. By 2015, when the people democratically removed him from office, the foreign reserves had fallen below $30 billion, and the Excess Crude Account had been depleted to $2 billion, despite generating record revenue from crude oil sales that the country had never achieved in more than 25 years combined.
“It is on record that between 2010 and 2013, crude oil sold for an average of $100 per barrel. By December 2014, however, the Jonathan-led Federal Government could no longer pay salaries to Federal Civil Servants. At least 28 states across the country owed workers huge salary arrears.” Mr Onanuga explained.
In a detailed contrast, the Presidential aide said President Tinubu has in 28 months taken “bold and painful decisions” that have reset the economy, citing the removal of fuel subsidy, unification of exchange rates, and macroeconomic stability.
Mr Onanuga further revealed that Nigeria’s GDP, grew by 4.23% in Q2 2025, inflation dropped to 20.12%, the lowest in three years and foreign reserves now stand at $42.03 billion.
He said; “In contrast, President Tinubu has taken bold decisions over the last 28 months to reset the economy, removing the ruinous fuel subsidy and abolishing multiple exchange rates, which paved the way for arbitrage to flourish.
“The President has stabilised the economy in slightly over two years in office. In 2025 Q2, the Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23%, the highest in four years, outpacing the 3.4% projected by the International Monetary Fund. Inflation decreased to 20.12% in August 2025, the lowest level in three years. The foreign reserves stand presently at $42. 03 billion. The Naira has virtually stabilised. Investor confidence in our economy has been restored, and investors are betting on Nigeria.”
“In plain language, the nation has turned the corner. And our people have started reaping the gains of the bold reforms instituted by the Tinubu administration. Road infrastructure is being boosted. Old roads are being reconstructed while new ones, like the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Highway, among others, are springing up. The government is addressing security issues in some parts of the country.
“We can go on and on, reeling out the many macroeconomic gains of the Tinubu administration. However, the point is that the PDP and Jerry Gana’s co-travellers broke the economy; President Tinubu is fixing it.” Onanuga emphasised.
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