JONATHAN TELLS PDP LEADERS WHAT TO DO IF THEY WANT HIM TO CONTEST AGAINST TINUBU, INSISTS WIKE IS PARTY’S MAJOR PROBLEM

Following mounting pressure on him to contest the 2027 election, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has given the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stringent condition to meet on the festering crisis around the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

Jonathan specifically told the PDP leadership to as a matter of priority, resolved the issues around Wike before in order to enable him decide on the party’s 2027 presidential ticket.

Forefront News gathered that Jonathan’s condition to the PDP leaders followed weeks of underground moves to draft him back to the party and make him the consensus candidate.

It was further gathered that the former President told the leaders of the party that approached that some of them had complained and pointed fingers at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s long-standing hold on the presidential ticket of the party, adding however, that the most disturbing and troubling crisis that the PDP is facing was the Wike challenge.

Jonathan was quoted as having said; “Deal with Wike first. The Wike problem is the stumbling block that must be fixed if the PDP is to stand any chance against President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

“Without peace in the house, no candidate – not even me – can survive Tinubu,” he was quoted as having said.

It was further gathered from a source at the meeting to draft Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election, that the former President noted that Wike, who is serving in the President Tinubu-led APC government is still hold on strong to PDP structures in Rivers and parts of the South-south geo-political zone.

Already, there is a sharp division amongst members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP over the possible expulsion of Wike, who is believed to be using his deep pockets and combative style to hoodwink some party leaders to his side.

Some of the PDP leaders, it was gathered are so afraid of Wike whom they described as “vindictive” and may roll out bulldozers to demolish their Abuja properties if they dare oppose him or vote in favour of his expulsion from the party which he has worked so hard to reduce to carcass with no visible strength.

Information pieced together indicated that Jonathan has sent a clear message that he is more interested consensus-building as against entering the 2027 fray blindly without the PDP resolving the issue surrounding Wike first and foremost, emphasising that it was too risky to jump into the fray without resolving the dicey issues.

According to another source; “Jonathan insisted he will not walk into another divided contest where internal sabotage could do more damage than the opposition”.

The resolution of the PDP NEC scheduled to take place today, Monday, August 25, 2025 is expected to point at the direction that Party pendulum ahead of the 2027 will swing to with regards to the likely acceptance of Jonathan to contest the election.

Be that as it may, if the PDP NEC meeting is able to meet the demand of Jonathan, the 2027 race would take a different shape as the rope may become tight for President Bola Tinubu to walk on given the Northern support that may likely tilt in favour of Jonathan, whose legacies contrast those of Tinubu.

In the same vein, the entering of Jonathan into the 2027 race is most likely to alter the political equation in the South-south and South-east in his favour which would further reduced the electoral chances of Tinubu drastically.