As the race for the 2027 general election continues to gather momentum, former President Goodluck Jonathan has berated the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN; and Professor Chidi Odinkalu, a law teacher, over their opposition to his presidential bid, warning them to keep off his political journey. Begining from last week, Keyamo and Odinkalu have been agitated into warning the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to avoid giving its presidential ticket to Jonathan to actualize his rumored plan to return to the presidency in 2027.
In separate media posts, Keyamo and Odinkalu contended that Jonathan’s attempt to contest the 2027 presidential election will face a legal challenge as he had been sworn in twice.
However, Jonathan, responding through his brother, Robert Azibaola, warned the two legal practitioners to steer clear of his bid to return to the Presidency, arguing that rather they should concentrate in marketing their employer.
According to Azibaola, Jonathan is qualified to run.
This came on a day the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, said former President Jonathan is being deceived to run and cautioned that handing former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, a presidential ticket will spell doom for the PDP.
Boasting about President Bola Tinubu’s re-election chances, Wike, said he is ready to place a bet, also dismissed former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s claim that President Tinubu will come a distant third in the 2027 presidential election, describing the assertion as faulty and mathematically inaccurate.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said Nigerians, it is not the All Progressives Congress, APC, or the opposition PDP that will determine the outcome of the 2027 presidential election.
Azibaola wrote on his verified Facebook page yesterday: “Dear Festus Keyamo, SAN, Chidi Odinkalu (Prof.) I greet both of you.
“For the record, three of us are lawyers. We all were pro-democracy activists in the 90s, and I was a better activist than both of you combined.
“Rule No. I: Do not offer legal advice where none is solicited. GEJ (PDP) has numerous, more cerebral, more experienced SANs at his disposal that give him sound, unblemished, professional legal advice only. “Please note: GEJ is 100% constitutionally and legally qualified to contest, if he chooses to. If he chooses not to yield to the overwhelming calls to run, it would not be because he is not qualified.
“Your screwed, unsolicited legal view is not of any concern in his bucket list, and it will never be. Don’t waste your precious time dwelling on this.
“Or should I schedule a meeting with me so you can get properly educated on the subsisting court judgments on this, one of which your party, APC, was a party?
“I beg una, make we no dey put too much water inside belle for another person disco dance, make long line no form for latrine door). This is not a confirmation that GEJ is running, though,” Azibaola wrote.
Although Jonathan has not yet officially declared to run for the 2027 election, opponents in other political parties have already begun to attack his candidacy, arguing that he should not return so as not to jeopardise the chances of the South to maintain the presidency.
It is still unclear, though, if the former president, who is being wooed by some PDP leaders will run or not, given what appears as early attempts by some elements to shoot his ambition down before he even makes a formal declaration.
