The Presidency has said that Goodluck Jonathan’s disastrous tenure as president will be a major obstacle if he decides to contest the 2027 presidential election. FG recently reacted to claims by former Information Minister Jerry Gana that Jonathan would run under the PDP in 2027.
Reacting via a press statement, Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, described Gana’s comments as delusional.
According to him, Nigerians will always remember Jonathan’s poor record when he was in office, so he should not bother trying to stage a comeback after 12 years to defeat President Bola Tinubu.
He stated that it is strange to see how desperate the opposition is to gang up against Tinubu despite the obvious economic prosperity the country is currently enjoying.
”As we begin the march towards the 2027 elections prematurely foisted on the nation by the desperation of the opposition ganging up against President Bola Tinubu despite his glaring giant economic strides.
One recent statement that stands out in its absurdity is Prof. Jerry Gana’s. The former Minister of Information and National Orientation, moving to draft former President Goodluck Jonathan into the 2027 presidential race.
Gana even deluded himself, asserting that the former President would defeat President Tinubu to reclaim power after 12 years,” he wrote.
Bayo Onanuga further noted that the courts will have to rule on GEJ’s eligibility, given he was sworn in twice as president and could face constitutional hurdles seeking a third term.
He concluded by warning Jonathan against allowing himself to be misled by “sugar-coated” PDP loyalists like Gana, stressing that their motives were selfish and unpatriotic.
“Let us remind ourselves about Jonathan’s record. We cannot forget in a hurry how his regime, devoid of any clear economic agenda, engaged in frivolous spending, ran the economy aground and put the country in dire straits.
The nation’s economic downturn, which President Tinubu is working very hard to overcome, actually began under President Jonathan.
The Jonathan administration severely damaged the economy, and all key indicators declined under his watch.
Under him, the so-called business moguls allocated foreign exchange to import fuel, simply pocketing the dollars without importing anything. Some of those big men still have court cases on the issue today.
In 2010, President Jonathan inherited a total of $66 billion, of which $46 billion was in foreign reserves and $20 billion in the noble-but-abused Excess Crude Account.
By 2015, when the people democratically removed him from office, the foreign reserves had fallen below $30 billion, and the Excess Crude Account had been depleted to $2 billion, despite generating record revenue from crude oil sales that the country had never achieved in more than 25 years combined.
The President has stabilised the economy in slightly over two years in office. In 2025 Q2, the Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23%, the highest in four years, outpacing the 3.4% projected by the International Monetary Fund.
Inflation decreased to 20.12% in August 2025, the lowest level in three years. The foreign reserves stand presently at $42.03 billion. The Naira has virtually stabilised. Investor confidence in our economy has been restored, and investors are betting on Nigeria.
President Jonathan and others are welcome to the 2027 race. They broke the economy before, but millions of Nigerians, who will not easily forget the recent past, will not allow them to return and run it down again,” he added.
