The Presidency on Monday said former President Goodluck Jonathan is free to contest the 2027 elections but warned that his “dismal record in office” remains fresh in the minds of Nigerians.
It described as “absurd” the Peoples Democratic Party’s strategy to field Jonathan for the presidency on what it called a “discredited platform” which “bequeathed a legacy of economic ruins, after 16 years of bad governance.”
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made these assertions in a statement he signed Monday evening titled, ‘Former President Jonathan is welcome to the race. Nigerians will remember his dismal record in office.’
Onanuga said while the administration “wholeheartedly welcomes” Jonathan to the race, should he decide to run, the former leader would have to contend with both constitutional hurdles and public perception.
He said, “President Jonathan reserves the right to run if he wishes. It is his inalienable right to contest the presidency again.
“But Jonathan will have his date in the court of the land…and will also have his encounter with the people as to whether he has anything new to offer after his disastrous six years, for which they voted him out in 2015.”
The remarks followed comments by the former Minister of Information and chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, Professor Jerry Gana, suggesting Jonathan could return to power on the platform of the PDP.
Gana said the ex-president, who left office in 2015 after losing to Muhammadu Buhari, would be well placed to challenge Tinubu in 2027.
But the Presidency dismissed the idea as political fantasy.
“Gana even deluded himself, asserting that the former President would defeat President Tinubu to reclaim power after 12 years,” Onanuga wrote, cautioning Jonathan to be wary of “sugar-coated cheerleaders” in the PDP who, he said, abandoned him once before and would do so again.
The PDP governed Nigeria for 16 years before being unseated by the All Progressives Congress in 2015.
The APC has consistently blamed the PDP for what it describes as structural weaknesses in the economy and institutions.
Onanuga accused Jonathan’s government of fiscal irresponsibility, corruption, and waste during a period of unprecedented oil windfalls.
“We cannot forget in a hurry how his regime, devoid of any clear economic agenda, engaged in frivolous spending, ran the economy aground and put the country in dire straits,” the statement added.
Onanuga noted that Jonathan inherited $66bn in 2010, $46bn in reserves and $20bn in the Excess Crude Account, but left less than $30bn in reserves and only $2bn in the ECA by 2015, despite oil prices averaging $100 a barrel.
He added that the administration failed to pay federal workers’ salaries in its final months, while 28 states were left owing arrears.
He stated, “It is on record that between 2010 and 2013, crude oil sold for an average of $100 per barrel. By December 2014, however, the Jonathan-led Federal Government could no longer pay salaries to Federal Civil Servants. At least 28 states across the country owed workers huge salary arrears.
“In contrast, President Tinubu has taken bold decisions over the last 28 months to reset the economy, removing the ruinous fuel subsidy and abolishing multiple exchange rates, which paved the way for arbitrage to flourish. The President has stabilised the economy in slightly over two years in office.
“In 2025 Q2, the Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23 per cent, the highest in four years, outpacing the 3.4 per cent projected by the International Monetary Fund. Inflation decreased to 20.12 per cent in August 2025, the lowest level in three years. The foreign reserves stand presently at $42.03bn. The Naira has virtually stabilised. Investor confidence in our economy has been restored, and investors are betting on Nigeria.”
The Presidency also accused Jonathan’s government of mismanaging security funds saying, “Jonathan and his National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), freely distributed security funds to friends and cronies.”
In contrast, it highlighted what it described as the “giant economic strides” of Tinubu’s two years in office, saying Nigeria had “turned the corner.”
Onanuga added, “In plain language, the nation has turned the corner. And our people have started reaping the gains of the bold reforms instituted by the Tinubu administration. Road infrastructure is being boosted.
“Old roads are being reconstructed while new ones, like the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Highway, among others, are springing up. The government is addressing security issues in some parts of the country.”
It cited the removal of fuel subsidies, unification of exchange rates, and increased infrastructure spending as evidence of progress.
“In 2025 Q2, the Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23 per cent, the highest in four years, outpacing the 3.4 per cent projected by the International Monetary Fund,” the statement noted.
It added that inflation had eased to 20.12 per cent in August, while foreign reserves had risen to $42bn and the naira had “virtually stabilised.”
“Investor confidence in our economy has been restored, and investors are betting on Nigeria,” Onanuga said, listing projects such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway as signs of reform dividends.
The Presidency said it was unfazed by a possible Jonathan candidacy.
Onanuga said, “President Jonathan and others are welcome to the 2027 race.
“They broke the economy before, but millions of Nigerians who will not easily forget the recent past will not allow them to return to run it down again.”
