The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said that relying on Goodluck Jonathan would be risky for the PDP in 2027.
He recently warned the party not to depend on the former president as its candidate in 2027.
In a lengthy post on social media, Keyamo revealed that the PDP is currently reaping the reward of its mistakes ahead of the 2023 elections.
According to him, refusing to zone its presidential ticket to the South was PDP’s undoing two years ago, and while the error was recorrected recently, fielding GEJ carries a serious constitutional risk.
He stated that by virtue of section 137 (3) of the 1999 Constitution, the opposition party would be risking having no candidate at all if Goodluck Jonathan wins its primaries.
“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 loyal regions since 1999.
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),” he wrote.
Keyamo further noted that the constitutional amendment, which prevents anyone who has been sworn in twice as president from seeking another term, happened after the 2015 court ruling that cleared GEJ to contest.
He concluded by dismissing the chances of the PDP producing a winning candidate from the South-West, stressing that such a flagbearer would struggle to gain support outside the zone.
“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,” he added.
