The Tanimu Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday declared former President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
Jonathan was announced by the presidential screening committee set up by the camp to screen aspirants for the party’s primary elections.
A member of the committee and former governor of Niger State, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, who spoke on behalf of the committee, said Jonathan was also granted a waiver from appearing for screening because of his background as a former president.
The screening committee is chaired by former Vice President Namadi Sambo and includes members such as Olabode George, Tom Ikimi and former military governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang.
However, Jonathan was absent during the meeting of the committee held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja for the screening exercise.
Sambo, George, Ikimi and several other members of the committee were also not in attendance.
Speaking to journalists after the sitting, Aliyu said Jonathan had emerged as the sole candidate of the party following the waiver granted to him.
He said, “The party had already given our presidential aspirant the waiver.
“As I said earlier, he was deputy governor; became governor; became vice president; and became president.
“So, we did not see anything that needed screening, and, therefore, the party gave him a waiver. In other words, he has been declared and cleared as the candidate of the PDP for the presidential election, and that is President Jonathan.”
There has been no official reaction from Jonathan regarding the development.
It is also unclear when the former president purchased his expression of interest and nomination forms.
On Monday, it was widely speculated that a presidential aspirant believed to be Jonathan would submit nomination forms, but the day ended without the former president making an appearance.
Meanwhile, the committee said it screened about seven governorship aspirants from Taraba, Kano, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom and Delta states on Tuesday.
Taofeek Arapaja, the INWC secretary and a governorship aspirant for Oyo State, was also granted a waiver as he did not appear for the screening.
Aliyu attributed Arapaja’s absence to his trip to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
“The other waiver is also for the former deputy governor, ambassador and secretary of the party, Amb. Taofeek Arapaja, who, for many reasons, has to be in Ibadan, Oyo State, to ensure that everything has gone well.
“So, we also declared him as having been given a waiver by the party,” he added.
Giving a breakdown of the governorship aspirants screened, Aliyu said, “We had two from Taraba, one from Adamawa, one from Kano, one from Akwa Ibom, and one from Delta. Anytime the other people come within the screening period, we will continue the screening exercise.”
According to the committee, the PDP will participate in the 2027 elections despite attempts by unnamed persons to “kill” the party.
“We are very happy that even those who have been attempting to kill the party cannot succeed, and the party will contest this election by the grace of God and by the Constitution of Nigeria,” he stated.
The Turaki-led camp announced last week that 3,181 aspirants purchased forms to vie for various offices in 2027.
They included 2,122 House of Assembly aspirants, 748 House of Representatives aspirants, 198 senatorial aspirants and 112 governorship aspirants.
The announcement came just days after the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP also concluded the screening of one presidential aspirant and more than 25 governorship aspirants for the 2027 elections, further deepening confusion within the opposition party despite the recent Supreme Court judgement on its internal crisis.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) currently recognises the Mohammed-led NWC on its portal following judicial intervention, but the Turaki-led INWC insists that the court did not grant legitimacy to the NWC to run the affairs of the PDP.