Goodluck Jonathan

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has not invited former President Goodluck Jonathan to run for president on its platform in the 2027 election.

Ibrahim Abdullahi, deputy spokesperson of the country’s biggest opposition party, told BBC Hausa that the former president has not been awarded a ticket.

Abdullahi stated that the party has many qualified candidates for the president, and that a recent interview he gave was understood to suggest that Jonathan requested to run on the PDP platform.

“The report that PDP has issued its presidential ticket to former President Goodluck Jonathan or invited him to contest the 2027 presidential election is not true,” he told reporters.

“What occurred was that I had an interview with a journalist and we discussed various concerns.

“But throughout the conversation, he referenced President Jonathan and inquired about our impression of him, citing allegations that he is being pressured to run for president.

“I reacted by saying that he (Jonathan) is qualified to run for election because he is a Nigerian and has the right to do so under the law, and he still has one term left.

“So, there is nothing wrong about him contesting the presidential election because he is eligible in the face of the law.”

The deputy spokesman stated that the ticket would be handed to someone who has expressed interest in running for president.

Jonathan, as a member of the PDP, lost the presidential election to former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.