Only Jonathan’s enemy wants him to contest 2027 election  —  Oshiomhole

Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has advised former President Goodluck Jonathan against yielding to pressure to contest the 2027 presidential election, warning that doing so would damage his legacy.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Oshiomhole said that only those who do not wish Jonathan well would encourage him to return to the political arena, adding that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would easily defeat him if he chose to run.

“How can Jonathan be a threat? We defeated him before when PDP was truly PDP,” Oshiomhole said.

“If a man had PDP at its best, at its peak, and he was defeated, I think only his enemy will push him to go into election.”

The former APC national chairman advised Jonathan to preserve his reputation as a statesman and avoid a return that could erode the respect he earned after conceding defeat in 2015.

“If I were able to advise him, I will say, Sir, maintain this status. You governed for eight years, you don’t have to govern for nine,” Oshiomhole said.

According to Oshiomhole, Jonathan “has managed to demonstrate that out of power, you can be relevant and at peace.”

He praised Jonathan’s historic concession speech in 2015, describing it as one of his most admirable legacies.

“Looking at how he ascended to that office, if I were him, I will spend the end of my life trying to find relevance, which he has already found, and speaking because that conceding defeat, and that is memorable quote about my blood, sorry, blood of a Nigerian is not worth my ambition, he should just allow those legacies to be,” he said.

Oshiomhole further argued that Jonathan’s political base in the South-South had weakened since his departure from office, making a comeback unrealistic.

“We will defeat him if he comes out very flatly because now the South-South is no longer PDP. So where is he going to start from?” he asked.

Jonathan, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lost the 2015 presidential election to the late Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).