Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo has cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that its 2027 presidential ambitions risk collapse if it fields former President Goodluck Jonathan or ex-Anambra governor Peter Obi as candidates.
In a lengthy statement posted on his X handle on Sunday, Keyamo said the opposition party was in a “non-enviable position” due to its refusal to zone the 2023 presidential ticket to the South—a decision he argued cost it decades of dominance in its traditional strongholds of the South-South and South-East.
He warned that presenting Jonathan as a candidate could leave the PDP without a flagbearer, citing section 137 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (Fourth Amendment), which bars anyone who has been sworn in twice as president from seeking another term.
“One of its attractive targets as a presidential candidate is ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, because of his purported eligibility to run for only one term. But, if he is fielded, the party runs the risk of not having a candidate at all,” Keyamo said.
Further, he noted that Jonathan’s eligibility debate, previously settled in his favour by a 2015 court ruling, had since been overtaken by constitutional amendments.
Any fresh challenge, he argued, would likely end up at the Supreme Court, leaving the PDP vulnerable if disqualified after nomination deadlines.
Keyamo dismissed the possibility of the PDP winning with a South-West candidate, stressing that the region would not rally behind a new Yoruba flagbearer for fear of another eight-year tenure, particularly against the APC’s entrenched structures in the zone.
On Obi, the 2023 Labour Party candidate, Keyamo said his return to the PDP would damage his credibility and alienate loyal supporters.
“If the PDP woos back Peter Obi… the principled ones amongst the ‘Obidients’ will see him as going back to his vomit of ‘structure of criminality’ and may not be too vociferous in their support anymore,” he said.
Keyamo concluded that the PDP’s woes stemmed from its “original sin” of 2023 and warned that political zoning remained an unavoidable reality in Nigeria’s democracy.
“Except something extraordinary happens, the Party may have to wait till 2031,” he declared.
