The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has denied reports that former President Goodluck Jonathan plans to contest the 2027 presidential election, saying the former leader has not personally discussed any political ambition with him.
Wike made the clarification on Friday during a media parley with journalists in Abuja, where he addressed several political issues, including speculations surrounding the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the coming national convention.
“You’re the one telling me here. Jonathan has never told me; he has never called me one day to say, ‘I’m being pressured to run, what’s your thinking?’ If he calls me and asks me, I will tell him my mind and what I feel,” Wike said.
The former Rivers State governor dismissed the growing online rumours, describing them as baseless and a reflection of the media’s tendency to sensationalize politics. “I will not because you people put something on the pages of the newspapers, just like you said they flew me out of the country, then assume it’s correct,” he added.
On the emergence of former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), as the consensus candidate for the PDP National Chairman position, Wike said he was unaware of such a development, insisting that he has no hand in the process.
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Northern PDP stakeholders had recently endorsed Turaki ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for November 15–16 in Ibadan, Oyo State. But Wike described the proposed convention as illegal and hinted that he would not attend.
“How do you want me to attend a convention that I know by law does not exist?” he asked.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that former President Goodluck Jonathan is under growing pressure from prominent Niger Delta figures, including ex-militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, to shelve any presidential ambition and instead support President Bola Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Some of Jonathan’s kinsmen have reportedly urged him to prioritize unity in the Niger Delta and align with the current administration’s agenda rather than return to the political battlefield in 2027.
