Former Senator Shehu Sani has urged former President Goodluck Jonathan not to seek the presidency again in 2027. He cited fundamental changes within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Sani stated that Jonathan’s political environment has shifted significantly since his last campaign.
Sani noted that the PDP, the party Jonathan once led, is no longer a unified entity. He pointed out that some of the party’s members in the Southwest are now endorsing the current president, while others are aligning with a new opposition coalition.
Due to these divisions, Sani believes Jonathan should not waste his time pursuing a run for office. Jonathan, who served as vice president before assuming the presidency in 2010, won the 2011 election on the PDP platform.
He was later defeated by Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 election. Despite having a constitutionally permissible single term of four years remaining, Jonathan has not publicly expressed interest in a 2027 bid.
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The possibility of Jonathan’s return has been a topic of growing discussion, particularly amid debates over a one-term Southern presidency and the emergence of a new opposition coalition led by the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
However, Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, believes the new coalition’s members share similar ideologies with President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Sani argued that while democracy allows an opposition to offer alternatives, the current coalition lacks a clear agenda beyond simply removing Tinubu.
He highlighted that the members are not ideologically or philosophically distinct from Tinubu’s policies, such as the removal of fuel subsidies and currency devaluation.
