A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and House of Representatives candidate of the party for Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency in 2023, Austin Okai has, addressed the speculations about former president, Goodluck Jonathan’s possible comeback in 2027.

The Kogi-born political activist said in an interview with the media that President Bola Tinubu can only be defeated in 2027 if all opposition figures realign and join forces to produce a single candidate that will face the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the presidential race.

Excerpts! There have been speculations about the former president, Goodluck Jonathan’s possible comeback in 2027, do you think this is possible, especially with the current reality in PDP? Can PDP even win any elections as it stands right now? It is not about his (Jonathan) decision to return. Sometimes we overate things that are not necessary.

 

Elections are more of structures. Yes, it is the duty of parties to supervise the activities of their candidates and as it is right now, is PDP well structured to win the 2027 elections? Even Sule Lamido who is saying Jonathan is the best candidate, do you know he is working for Atiku even in PDP? There is what we call the Wike style of politics.

It is a kind of politics where anti-party activities are allowed and that is what most of them are doing. Unless otherwise, the current PDP cannot win any election so who are those that will do the job for him (Jonathan).

Among all the PDP governors, the only person I know that supports Jonathan is Bala Mohammed and how influential is he? Wike and others, who worked for Jonathan at that time are already working for President Bola Tinubu now.

The South South has already gone the way of APC so what are we talking about? The North is not even reliable. They always talk like this before the election but when the election comes, the voice changes especially when people start pushing out money.

Are you saying that PDP, which was once the biggest political party in the country has no structure to deliver Jonathan if he decides to contest? The party is currently infiltrated. So many bigwigs in the PDP today are on the APC payroll. So many of them are shouting PDP, PDP today, are they not collecting money from APC? Let’s stop lying to ourselves. Who are the PDP people promising Jonathan that he will win the 2027 election? Which structure are they hoping on? Jonathan should maintain his integrity and forget about 2027.

He has lost the chance. When last did he participate in a PDP meeting? The North seems not to trust Peter Obi’s one-term promise, doesn’t that make Jonathan the best candidate to contest against President Tinubu? Who even told Nigerians that the North decides who becomes the president? I am also a Northerner, I think we the younger generation need to rewrite this story. Which North is deciding who becomes Nigerian President? The core Muslim Northerners?