Human rights lawyer and activist, Deji Adeyanju, has urged former President Goodluck Jonathan not to join the 2027 presidential race to avoid damaging the reputation he has built since leaving power.
In an open letter addressed to Jonathan on Wednesday, Adeyanju said he admires the former president’s leadership style and commitment to democratic values.
He expressed concern over growing discussions linking Jonathan to a return to active partisan politics ahead of the 2027 election.
“Nigeria’s current political climate is already fragile, and the PDP platform you are being linked with appears increasingly unstable and divided,” Adeyanju wrote.
He argued that Jonathan’s standing both within Nigeria and internationally could be affected by participation in another presidential contest.
“As someone with your global standing and the respect you continue to command both at home and abroad, I worry that subjecting yourself to the roughness of another electoral contest at this moment may not serve your legacy well,” he said.
Adeyanju argued that regardless of Jonathan’s prospects at the polls, a return to partisan politics could draw him into controversies that may diminish his reputation.
“Even beyond questions of outcome, the process itself risks unnecessary controversy that could unintentionally diminish the statesmanlike stature you have earned.
“For these reasons, I sincerely hope you will consider stepping away from any such ambition and continue to serve in the higher role of an elder statesman on the continent whose influence is felt through guidance and wisdom, rather than electoral contest,” Adeyanju added.
The appeal comes amid renewed efforts by groups and a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to draft Jonathan into the 2027 presidential race.
THE WHISTLER reports that while Jonathan has not publicly declared interest in the race, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the former president is eligible to contest the 2027 election.
Justice Peter Lifu dismissed a suit seeking to bar Jonathan from future presidential contests, holding that the plaintiff lacked the legal standing to institute the action and described the case as an abuse of court process.
The judgment reinforced earlier decisions by courts in Yenagoa and the Court of Appeal, which also affirmed Jonathan’s eligibility to seek the presidency.
Meanwhile, a PDP faction led by a former minister, Kabiru Turaki, has ratified Jonathan as its presidential candidate for the 2027 election in absentia. The faction’s screening committee granted him a waiver and cleared him as its sole aspirant before delegates at a special convention in Abuja.
The former president has been praised for his concession of defeat in the 2015 presidential election. He lost the election to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and became the first sitting Nigerian president to concede defeat and hand over power to an opposition candidate.
Jonathan has since served as a democracy advocate, and has led and participated in election observation missions across Africa.
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