Former President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed reports claiming he has abandoned any ambition to contest the 2027 presidential election.
The clarification came on Friday after a Newsweek Nigeria publication alleged that Jonathan had rejected mounting pressure to run, reportedly insisting he would not be “used against Southern unity.”
Reacting, Jonathan’s cousin, Azibaola Robert, took to his verified Facebook page to refute the story, describing it as “fake” and urging Nigerians to disregard it. He further stressed that the purported “aide of Jonathan” quoted in the report “does not exist.”
“The former president has made it clear that he would not yield to calls not to run, since those making such admonitions had selfish motives,” Robert stated, noting that Jonathan has not ruled himself out of the 2027 race.
Although the former president has yet to make a formal declaration, political observers say he has begun quiet consultations across the country as part of a broader effort to stage a political comeback.
Jonathan, who lost his re-election bid in 2015 to then-opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari, has since maintained a prominent role in regional peace initiatives and national discourse.