The Director General of the Tinubu Support Group, Umar Yakasai, has stated that former President Goodluck Jonathan can not defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections.
According to him, Nigerians would not vote for Jonathan because they don’t want to return to their experiences during his administration.
Yakasai added that President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), have nothing to worry about on the potential candidacy of Jonathan in the 2027 elections because Nigerians rejected him in the 2015 elections and would do the same if he decides to contest the 2027 polls.
Naijaonpoint reports that Yakasai made the submission while speaking on Thursday in an interview with ARISE NEWS, amidst rumours that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was wooing Jonathan to pick up its ticket and run for the 2027 presidency on its platform.
“While Udenta had his own right to his perspective, it does not reflect the opinion of the majority of Nigerians. “We believe that President Goodluck Jonathan has been in government for six years, and we’ve seen all the policies of his government. Despite that, Nigerians rose up in 2015 to say they wanted change, and they brought in the APC.
“Nigerians would not have forgotten so quickly. I don’t think the candidature of former President Goodluck Jonathan will be anything to worry about as far as the APC is concerned,” he submitted.
He argued further that the Northern region would not vote for Jonathan in the 2027 polls, stressing that the ruling party was prepared to counter any opposition narrative by reminding Nigerians of the past.
“All I need to do is bring a conversation from Rufai and play it on the news, and they will say, oh, that will be answers to anybody contemplating bringing Goodluck Jonathan into this contest.”
“The North has consistently rejected PDP in the past, and nothing has changed. Memories are still fresh,” he said.
Tinubu Is Working
Yakasai insisted that within two years in office, President Tinubu has brought about massive improvements in the Nigerian economy through his policies such as subsidy removal and floating of the currency.
He argued that despite the initial pain brought about by the implementation of the policies, results have shown the country is on the right path and the economy has stabilized.
“Within the last two years, the president and his team have been able to stabilise the economy. Inflation, which spiked in 2023, has come back to 2023 levels in 2025. That shows the economy is working,” he said.
He also credited the Tinubu government for supporting the Dangote Refinery, which has resulted in lower petrol prices for Nigerians.
“If Dangote is not enjoying the support of the government, you will not have consistently a reduction in the pump price of petroleum. But we cannot allow one industry player to have total monopoly in this country,” Yakasai submitted.
North Has Not Forgotten
Speaking about the potential return of Jonathan, Yakasai insisted that the North would not vote for him despite the lure of a single term.
He insisted that insecurity thrived under the Jonathan administration, and even as a sitting President, the North constantly gave massive votes to former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was an aspirant at that time.
He said, “The North has not forgotten. Even when PDP was in power, the North consistently gave over 10 million votes to Buhari. If you place a candidate like former President Goodluck Jonathan, it’s easy for them to remember.”
“To travel from Abuja to Kaduna under Jonathan, you would spend almost 12 hours on a five-hour journey because of over 30 checkpoints. Nigerians were consistently embarrassed. Very bad strategy.”
“You remember the $2.1 billion arms deal? That case is still on. You remember when he said only complimentary cards were given to civilians? Billions of dollars were removed. So all lessons are there. All I need to do is replay them for Nigerians to remember.”
Yakasai also downplayed ongoing criticisms of insecurity under President Tinubu, particularly in northern states, arguing that while some challenges persist, critical gains had been made.
“Yes, we’ve recorded some successes, but there are still farmlands that have not yet been accessible in Benue State, he said, referring to bandit attacks and displacement of farmers.
“When President Muhammadu Buhari came in, he consistently with his military chiefs said that the system of over-policing roads was not the right thing to do. Today, despite challenges, you no longer have the kind of humiliations Nigerians faced during Jonathan’s time,” he said.