By Augustine Akhilomen
Former governor of Edo State and senator representing the Edo North senatorial district, Adams Oshiomhole, has advised former President Goodluck Jonathan that the 2027 presidential election will only damage his reputation if he decides to contest for it.
Oshiomhole made this known in an interview with Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Although Jonathan is yet to make an official statement regarding his intentions, several leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been calling on him to run on the party’s platform.
While some Nigerians support the idea and even suggest alternative platforms for Jonathan to join the 2027 presidential race, others have advised him not to join the race, the most recent being Oshiomhole.
Oshiomhole also said that Jonathan’s participation will only create an easy path for President Bola Tinubu to win the election.
“If a man had PDP at its best, at its peak, and he was defeated, I think only his enemy will push him to go into election.”
The former APC national chairman advised Jonathan to preserve his reputation as a statesman and avoid a return that could erode the respect he earned after conceding defeat in 2015.
“If I were able to advise him, I will say, Sir, maintain this status. You governed for eight years, you don’t have to govern for nine,” Oshiomhole said.
According to Oshiomhole, Jonathan “has managed to demonstrate that out of power, you can be relevant and at peace.”
He praised Jonathan’s historic concession speech in 2015, describing it as one of his most admirable legacies.
“Looking at how he ascended to that office, if I were him, I will spend the end of my life trying to find relevance, which he has already found, and speaking because that conceding defeat, and that is memorable quote about my blood, sorry, blood of a Nigerian is not worth my ambition, he should just allow those legacies to be,” he said.
Oshiomhole further argued that Jonathan’s political base in the South-South had weakened since his departure from office, making a comeback unrealistic.
“We will defeat him if he comes out very flatly because now the South-South is no longer PDP. So where is he going to start from?” he asked.