Presidency: Jonathan Free to Contest 2027 Elections, but Nigerians Won’t Forget His Record

The Presidency has stated that former President Goodluck Jonathan is free to contest the 2027 elections, but warned that Nigerians will not easily forget his “disastrous record in office.”

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, called the PDP’s plan to field Jonathan “absurd,” pointing to years of alleged mismanagement under the party.

“President Jonathan reserves the right to run if he wishes. It is his inalienable right to contest the presidency again. But Jonathan will face scrutiny from both the courts and the people, who will judge whether he has anything new to offer after his six-year tenure, for which they voted him out in 2015,” Onanuga said in a statement titled ‘Former President Jonathan is welcome to the race. Nigerians will remember his dismal record in office.’

Onanuga criticized Jonathan’s administration for fiscal mismanagement and corruption, noting that while he inherited $66 billion in reserves and $20 billion in the Excess Crude Account, he left less than $30 billion in reserves and only $2 billion in the ECA by 2015. He also pointed out that federal workers’ salaries were unpaid in the final months, leaving 28 states with arrears, and alleged that security funds were misappropriated.

In contrast, Onanuga said President Bola Tinubu has made bold moves over the past 28 months to stabilize the economy, including removing the fuel subsidy and multiple exchange rates. He highlighted that Nigeria’s GDP grew by 4.23 percent in the second quarter of 2025, inflation eased to 20.12 percent, foreign reserves rose to $42 billion, and the naira stabilized. Infrastructure projects such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway were cited as evidence of progress.

While the PDP suggested that Jonathan could challenge Tinubu in 2027, the Presidency dismissed this as political fantasy. Onanuga also cautioned Jonathan to be wary of “sugar-coated cheerleaders” within the PDP who abandoned him before and could do so again.

“President Jonathan and others are welcome to the 2027 race. They broke the economy before, but millions of Nigerians who remember the recent past will not allow them to run it down again,” he said.