- Safiu Kehinde
The Presidency has reacted to speculations of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s likely return to contest for the 2027 Presidential Election.
While describing the plot allegedly orchestrated by ex-Minister of Information and National Orientation, Prof. Jerry Gana, as absurd, The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, welcomed Jonathan to the race.
Onanuga, in a statement issued on his official X handle on Tuesday, however described Gana’s claim of Jonathan defeating Tinubu through the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as delusional.
He warned the ex-President against confiding in the PDP leaders who he alleged will abandon him again like they did in 2015.
“As we begin the march towards the 2027 elections prematurely foisted on the nation by the desperation of the opposition ganging up against President Bola Tinubu despite his glaring giant economic strides, we are once again regaled with a cacophony of voices, most of them full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, to paraphrase inimitable Williams Shakespeare in one of his classic works, Macbeth.
“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 2027 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.
“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. Don’t get us wrong: President Jonathan reserves the right to run if he wishes.” Onanuga wrote.
While reiterating that Jonathan has the right to contest with Tinubu willing to wholeheartedly welcome him to the race, the presidential spokesperson however questioned his eligibility having been sworn in twice as President.
Recall that Jonathan was initially sworn in as President in 2010 following the death of his principal, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
He was declared winner of the 2011 Presidential election and again sworn-in to serve a full four-year term before his eventual defeat in 2015 to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
Onanuga said the court will determine the legibility of Jonathan.
He however recalled the ex-President’s tenure in office which according to him was devoid of any clear economic agenda but marred with alleged frivolous spending and economic mismanagement.
“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.
“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.” He said.
Onanuga however held that the Tinubu’s administration had over the last 28 months corrected the economic defects with the country’s Gross Domestic Product now 4.23% in Q2 of the year 2025.
He also noted the drop in inflation to 20.12% as well as the $42.03 billion foreign reserves amongst other indicators of economic restoration under the Tinubu-led administration.
These according to Onanuga are evidence of Tinubu’s impact in fixing the economy allegedly broken by the PDP administration.
“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.
“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 and run it down again.” He added.