AMID speculations that powerful interests are encouraging former President Goodluck Jonathan to declare interest in the Nigerian presidency come 2027, his wife and former First Lady, Dame Patience, has dismissed any possibility of her family returning to the Aso Rock.
While receiving the Women Icon Leader of the Year 2025 award from Accolade Dynamics Limited at an event in Abuja Saturday night, Patience Jonathan pledged her full support for First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, whose husband is widely believed to be warming up to declare for a re-election.
The former First Lady expressed firm support for rotational presidency, emphasising that the “turn-by-turn” approach is crucial for maintaining national cohesion.
“We are groups. We worked when I was a deputy governor’s wife. We worked when I was a governor’s wife. I know her. I talked with Oluremi. Even when my husband was the vice president, Oluremi stood with her husband and supported us during our first election. They supported us. So, for me, I have a conscience. I cannot abandon my friend, whether you like it or not,” she said.
She stressed that instead of seeking a return to Aso Rock, she would stand firmly behind the First Lady and her husband.
“Because, you see, this is turn by turn. Today is my turn, I will go. Tomorrow, it will be another person’s turn. I stand by my friend. My friend is great. I told her I would campaign with her. I’m not denying her. I’m not running. I’m not going back to the Villa. If you call me, I will not go,” she said.
The former First Lady, attributing her youthful appearance to the peace of staying away from Aso Rock, said, “ Don’t you like how young I look? It is because I have the rest of mind.”
She described the award as a recognition of the collective efforts made toward promoting women’s health and economic empowerment.
She also expressed strong support for the 35 per cent affirmative action for women in governance, while lamenting the National Assembly’s repeated rejection of gender equality bills.
“During Obasanjo’s time, we worked for it, and the executive approved 35 per cent. My husband also maintained it. But when it comes to elective positions, the men dominate and shut us out. May God touch their hearts to understand that we are their mothers, sisters, and friends. We are not trying to take power from them; we are trying to support them.”
The ICIR reported that last week, the president of the Nigeria Rescue Mission Organisation and former president of Buhari Youth Organisation (BYO), Jibril Mustapha, called on Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election “to save Nigerians from hunger and other economic hardship.”
He said Jonathan, who lost his re-election to former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, should heed the call to contest for the second and final term.
He stressed that as the nation prepares for the 2027 elections, his organisation believed that it was time for all stakeholders to come together and support a candidate who could genuinely represent the interests of all Nigerians.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.