MINISTER of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has argued that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) risks having no candidate in the 2027 general elections if it gives its presidential ticket to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Keyamo, a senior advocate, argued this in a post on his X handle on Sunday, August 31, citing Section 137 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (Fourth Amendment).
He said the PDP has tipped Jonathan as one of its targets for presidential candidate because of the ex-president’s purported eligibility to run for only one term.
“But, if he is fielded, the party runs the risk of not having a candidate at all by virtue of Section 137 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (Fourth Amendment).
“The constitutional amendment was made AFTER the court judgment which cleared him to run in 2015, so nothing is decided yet on that new amendment, hence I use the word ‘RISK’ advisedly,” Keyamo argued.
He stressed that all the arguments about whether the section could be interpreted to affect the former president would not be decided on social media, but at the Supreme Court.
“If he is barred from running after nominations have closed and the PDP is declared as having no candidate, nobody should scream ‘judiciary is corrupt’ because such a large party saw the judicial danger ahead and deliberately ignored it,” Keyamo, maintained.
He knocked the PDP for its decision to zone its presidential candidate ticket to the South.
He said, “In 2023, PDP lacked the balls to deliberately zone its presidential ticket to the South, so it woefully lost its decades-long stranglehold on the S/South and S/East, the two of its most loyal regions since 1999.”
Kayemo believes that the party has retraced its step and has deliberately zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the South to win back the southern regions into its fold.
He opines, however, that if the PDP decided to field its most attractive south-west candidate, no other region of the country will vote for a fresh Yoruba candidate who would be eligible for a fresh two terms in office, stressing that the candidate will battle with the well-oiled APC structures in the region.
“You need a majority of at least three to four regions in Nigeria to win the Presidency,” Keyamo told the PDP.
The senior advocate further argued that if the PDP wooed back former governor Peter Obi, the notion of a fresh candidate from the South would work against the party despite Obi’s shout to serve for one term.
“In addition, the principled ones amongst the ‘Obidients’ will see him as going back to his vomit of ‘structure of criminality’ and may not be too vociferous in their support anymore.
“This is happening to PDP because it committed an original sin in 2023 by lacking the balls to zone its presidential ticket to the South,” Keyamo claimed.
He added, “Young social media warriors” may lampoon anyone talking about these zoning sentiments, but that is the reality of “our politics” and it is not about to end.
“Except something extraordinary happens, the party may have to wait till 2031.”