FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has kept mum amid controversy surrounding his alleged adoption as the 2027 presidential candidate of a faction of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2027 election.
The ICIR reports that his silence had deepened uncertainty about his intentions ahead of the next general poll.
It has also exposed widening cracks within the party, with rival factions trading words over the legitimacy of a planned convention expected to affirm him as standard-bearer for one of the competing groups.
A faction of the PDP led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, a senior advocate, had announced plans to hold a special national convention in Abuja on Saturday May 30, where Jonathan is expected to be formally ratified as its presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
The group claimed that the former president was the only aspirant who obtained the party’s presidential nomination form and would be unveiled at the convention scheduled to hold at an event centre in Abuja.
However, despite the growing public debate and political maneuverings around his name, Jonathan has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement in the process.
His silence has fueled speculation over whether he is genuinely interested in returning to Aso Rock or is merely being drafted by supporters seeking to reposition him as a consensus figure within the opposition.
Political observers said Jonathan’s continued silence might be a strategic move as he weighs the implications of entering an increasingly fragmented opposition landscape, while others argued that his refusal to publicly reject the endorsement encouraged supporters pushing for his return to active partisan politics.
The uncertainty comes as another faction of the PDP, aligned with Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, openly rejected the planned endorsement and urged Jonathan to distance himself from what it described as an illegitimate exercise.
Recall that Wike, a PDP member, has been one of the leading cabinet members of President Bola Tinubu, who won his mandate and is seeking re-election on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform. Wike has repeatedly maintained his support for Tinubu’s re-election.
In a statement on Friday, signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, the Wike-backed faction said no recognised organ of the PDP had approved any convention or process aimed at endorsing Jonathan for the 2027 election.
The faction, which has unveiled a former Cross River senator, Sandy Onor, a professor, as its presidential candidate for the upcoming poll, described the planned event as misleading and intended to create confusion within the polity. It insisted that it did not reflect the position of the party’s recognised leadership.
The development comes amid a directive issued by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Friday, warning owners of hotels, event centres and other public facilities in the nation’s capital to deal only with political parties’ leaderships recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The ICIR reported the FCTA warning that event centres, hotels and other public buildings in the FCT would be closely monitored to prevent their use by illegal organisations “capable of disrupting peace and security in the nation’s capital.”
The administration warned that property owners must verify the legality of organisations seeking to use their facilities before approving bookings, adding that proper records of all transactions involving such bookings must also be maintained.
The dispute has added another layer to the prolonged leadership crisis within the PDP, which has witnessed competing factions, parallel structures and disagreements over the party’s direction ahead of the 2027 elections.
Meanwhile, the Turaki-led faction has insisted that the convention would proceed as planned despite opposition from rival camps and warnings by the FCTA against the use of public facilities by groups it described as unrecognised political organisations.
The faction maintained that its processes were valid and that Jonathan remained its preferred candidate for the presidency.
Jonathan, who served as Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015, has repeatedly been linked with various presidential comeback efforts since leaving office but has largely avoided making definitive public declarations about future electoral ambitions.
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. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.