The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN, has advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to field former president Goodluck Jonathan as candidate for the 2027 elections, saying his candidature may cost the party losing the chance to participate in the election.
Keyamo in a post via his X handle on Sunday, said if Jonathan is fielded, the PDP runs the risk of not having a candidate at all by virtue of section 137 (3) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (Fourth Amendment).
He stated that the constitutional amendment was made after the court judgment which cleared him to run in 2015, saying ” so nothing is decided yet on that new amendment, hence I use the word ‘RISK’ advisedly”.
The Minister added ” All the arguments as to whether the section can be interpreted to affect him will 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”.
” The position of PDP is not an enviable one at all. 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 loWayal regions since 1999. To correct that, it has now deliberately zoned its 2027 Presidential ticket to the South to win back the southern regions into the Party.
” One of its attractive targets as a Presidential candidate is ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, because of his 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. All the arguments as to whether the section can be interpreted to affect him will 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.
” If the PDP decides to field its most attractive S/West candidate, no other region of the country will vote for a fresh Yoruba candidate who would be eligible for fresh two terms in office. And that candidate will battle with the well-oiled APC structures in the S/West. You need a majority of at least 3 to 4 regions in Nigeria to win the Presidency.
“If the PDP woos back Peter Obi, scenario three above will still apply to him, hence all his shout of serving one-term of recent. 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. The 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. But let me face my work for now. I work during the week, and I poke my nose at weekends. Next time, I will poke my nose into the dilemma of another party”.
