A coalition of groups from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has appealed to former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election.
The group, under the aegis of Coalition for Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, led by its National President, Tom Ohikere, made the plea during a rally at the former president’s office in Abuja on Wednesday.
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Mr Ohikere said the move followed an intensive six-month nationwide consultation process.
“The message is short, direct and simple. Sir, Nigerians have asked us to plead with you to come to the rescue of our nation by declaring interest to contest for the presidency in 2027
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“Everywhere that we have visited in the course of our nationwide consultations over a period of six months, the clamour for your return to power to rescue our country has been loud and unmistakable,” he said.
Mr Ohikere said that their request was not merely a political suggestion but a direct mandate from millions of Nigerians who were prepared and determined to mobilise for Mr Jonathan’s return.
Describing the former president as a ‘bridge-builder capable of healing ethnic and regional divisions’, Mr Ohikere requested that he should declare his interest early to allow for nationwide mobilisation.
He pledged to lead a grassroots movement across all 36 states to ensure a landslide victory should Mr Jonathan, who served as president from 2010 to 2015, accept the call.
Fielding questions from journalists on why he thought Mr Jonathan had the required capability to address Nigeria’s current challenges, Mr Ohikere said that the former president had demonstrated the capability with his leadership qualities, virtues, past antecedents and pedigree.
“He has ruled this country for four good years, and his achievements are still there for us to see.
“We know the exchange rate of the Naira then. We know the price of a bag of rice. We know how much the crude oil was exchanged for dollars. We know how much all these things are going for in the market now,’’ he said.
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Asked on which platform Mr Jonathan should contest the election, Mr Ohikere said the former president would announce it himself soon.
Also speaking, National Secretary of the coalition, Jibril Mustapha, said that the present realities, including hunger and insecurity in the country, especially in the North, motivated the call on Mr Jonathan by the group.
“We know what is happening in our area. People are not in their homes. We cannot sleep with our eyes closed.
“If we can have somebody like him, who has the people, the country in mind, we definitely know that this country will be in a good shape,’’ he said.
Mr Mustapha said that the group was sure that only Mr Jonathan could adequately handle Nigeria and its challenges.
Also, Amodu Abacha, one of the group’s leaders, described Mr Jonathan as a man with a pure heart and a genuine democrat.
He said that the former president demonstrated these qualities by congratulating his opponent, former President Muhammadu Buhari, even before the election results were announced by INEC in 2015.
“So he’s a man that, with a milk of human kindness and with the kind of person he is, can unify the country.
“He will bring the people together. So we are here as a people representing the entirety of Nigeria, that he should come back.
“He’s the right person because he has been there before. And it is a trend around the globe. We have the President of America, who was there before, and he’s now back. We have that of Ghana.
“We have numerous of them across the globe. So it is actually a wind of change across the continents of the world.
“ So we are saying that he’s a man Nigeria will trust. He’s a man that can pilot the affairs of this country.
“ So that is just the simple reason we have come to ask him to throw the hat in the ring and let the foot soldiers do the work,’’ Mr Abacha said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Jonathan was not in the office to receive the group, and as of the time of filing this report, the former president had not issued a formal response to the coalition’s call.
(NAN)
