ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Lead Visioner of the Lagos4Lagos Movement, Dr. Abdul-Azeez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor has advised former President Goodluck Jonathan not to heed calls to contest the 2027 presidential election, warning that doing so would be a political mistake.
Adediran, who was the 2023 governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
He cautioned that Jonathan would be taking a political risk by re-entering the race, predicting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would defeat him easily at the polls.
According to Jandor, those urging the former president to run are misleading him.
He described Tinubu as “a master in the game of politics,” insisting that the President cannot be matched by Jonathan or any other political figure in 2027.
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“I disagree with people calling on Jonathan to re-contest, people saying Jonathan is the only person who can challenge Tinubu, citing his popularity and experience.
“It was this same man (Tinubu) who defeated him (Jonathan) from the outside. So, they are not the same.
“If you accidentally found yourself at the Aso Villa as President, it is different from somebody who gave his all to get there.
“It is different from somebody who, against all odds, got there. They did all sorts for him not to get there, and he got there.
“Such a man cannot be put side by side with somebody who just slept and woke up and found himself on the seat of President,” Adediran said.
He stressed that it would be a waste of time for Jonathan to attempt to unseat Tinubu in 2027.
Adediran also urged Jonathan to listen to his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, who had previously advised him not to contest the next presidential election.
He maintained that Tinubu’s “personality, popularity and experience are intimidating,” and warned Jonathan not to risk “a humiliating defeat” in 2027.
The PDP chieftain praised President Tinubu’s performance, saying the President has done well for Nigeria and deserves a second term.
Applauding Tinubu for his economic reforms, Adediran called for continued support for the administration, insisting that the reforms are beginning to yield “unprecedented benefits” at the state and local government levels.
“We are not saying all is well, but at least the President has shown the courage to take our common patrimony from the pocket of the few in the name of fuel subsidy and return it to the country, state and local government.
“Now the allocation is tripled; not that the money is collected and retained at the centre the state and local governments now have enough money to impact lives.
“This has put to rest what we witnessed during late President Muhammadu Buhari’s time when states would go to Abuja for FAAC meetings and resume with zero allocation,” he said.
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Adediran added that the President had also stabilised the foreign exchange market, eliminating corrupt practices that once thrived on discrepancies between official and parallel market rates.
“That is no longer the issue now. We can’t have a billionaire overnight through corrupt practices in foreign exchange. This man put a stop to that,” he stated.
While acknowledging that the reforms had brought some short-term inconveniences, Adediran challenged state and local governments to use their increased allocations to ease the hardship faced by citizens.
“If the state and local governments are doing what they are supposed to do, now that they have enough money, it will cushion the effects of some of the reforms.
“At the macro level, the economy has turned a corner, undoubtedly, but at the micro level, of course, it takes time before it trickles down,” he said.
The PDP leader also called on the Nigerian Armed Forces to support President Tinubu in tackling the nation’s security challenges.