The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Sunday cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against selecting former President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate for the 2027 elections.
Keyamo remarked on Sunday that the opposition party risks facing significant repercussions in the forthcoming election if it depends on former Anambra governor Peter Obi as its candidate.
He indicated that the PDP finds itself in a “non-enviable position” after failing to allocate its 2023 ticket to the South, a choice he claimed resulted in the PDP losing support in its traditional strongholds in the South-South and South-East.
The minister pointed out that nominating Jonathan poses a constitutional risk associated with section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which he implied could prevent anyone who has been sworn in as president twice from running again.
“If he is nominated, the Party runs the RISK of NOT HAVING A CANDIDATE AT ALL,” Keyamo stated.
He warned that such a legal issue would ultimately be adjudicated by the Supreme Court.
“The constitutional amendment was enacted AFTER the court ruling that permitted him (Jonathan) to run in 2015, so the implications of that new amendment remain undecided, thus I use the term ‘RISK’ with caution. All discussions regarding whether the section can be interpreted to impact him will not be resolved on Social Media, but rather at the Supreme Court.
“If he is prohibited from running AFTER nominations have closed and the PDP is declared to have no candidate, no one should cry ‘judiciary is corrupt’ because such a significant party recognized the judicial risk ahead and chose to overlook it.”
He emphasized that the party would be accountable if it disregarded the legal risk and lost its candidacy after the nominations were finalized.
Allow me to interject today: the situation of the PDP is indeed not enviable at all.
SCENARIO ONE: In 2023, the PDP lacked the courage to intentionally zone its Presidential ticket to the South, resulting in a significant loss of its long-standing dominance in the South-South and South-East, the two of its…
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Sunday cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against selecting former President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate for the 2027 elections.
Keyamo remarked on Sunday that the opposition party risks facing significant repercussions in the forthcoming election if it depends on former Anambra governor Peter Obi as its candidate.
He indicated that the PDP finds itself in a “non-enviable position” after failing to allocate its 2023 ticket to the South, a choice he claimed resulted in the PDP losing support in its traditional strongholds in the South-South and South-East.
The minister pointed out that nominating Jonathan poses a constitutional risk associated with section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which he implied could prevent anyone who has been sworn in as president twice from running again.
“If he is nominated, the Party runs the RISK of NOT HAVING A CANDIDATE AT ALL,” Keyamo stated.
He warned that such a legal issue would ultimately be adjudicated by the Supreme Court.
“The constitutional amendment was enacted AFTER the court ruling that permitted him (Jonathan) to run in 2015, so the implications of that new amendment remain undecided, thus I use the term ‘RISK’ with caution. All discussions regarding whether the section can be interpreted to impact him will not be resolved on Social Media, but rather at the Supreme Court.
“If he is prohibited from running AFTER nominations have closed and the PDP is declared to have no candidate, no one should cry ‘judiciary is corrupt’ because such a significant party recognized the judicial risk ahead and chose to overlook it.”
He emphasized that the party would be accountable if it disregarded the legal risk and lost its candidacy after the nominations were finalized.
Allow me to interject today: the situation of the PDP is indeed not enviable at all.
SCENARIO ONE: In 2023, the PDP lacked the courage to intentionally zone its Presidential ticket to the South, resulting in a significant loss of its long-standing dominance in the South-South and South-East, the two of its…
