ZLP Chairman Warns Jonathan Against 2027 Bid, Says Betrayers Now Urging Him to Run

The National Chairman of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Dan Nwanyanwu, has cautioned ex-president Goodluck Jonathan against contesting in the 2027 presidential poll.

Nwanyanwu said those who worked against the ex-president when he held sway are the ones pushing the former Bayelsa governor to run for the country’s number one seat for selfish reasons.

“I have not spoken with President Jonathan. I intend to see him very soon, but I think he should tarry a while,” he said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“I am with Madam Patience [Jonathan’s wife, who is against her husband running in 2027] because the same people calling him were the same people who betrayed him, an honest man, a man who had good policies for Nigeria. “They betrayed him, so they want to use him now to clean their mess.”

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Jonathan, a former Nigerian president, led the country between 2011 and 2015.

He was vice president from 2011 until the death of his principal, Musa Yar’Adua. Jonathan ruled from that time until 2015 before losing to Muhammadu Buhari (now late).

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But as the 2027 general elections draw closer, there have been calls for the former president to throw his hat into the ring.

Observers and some chieftains of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) believe Jonathan’s credentials put him in the right stead to contest the exalted seat.

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The former president is, however, yet to declare his interest in the position and has, in several fora, said his immediate plan is not to contest for the seat.

Since leaving office, Jonathan has spent his time in diplomatic and observer missions across Africa and helping in peace-building efforts on the continent.