Former presidential hopeful Mathias Tsado has called on close allies of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to persuade him to contest the 2027 presidential election, saying Nigeria needs his experience and leadership qualities.
Tsado, who once ran for president under the Action Democratic Party (ADP), made the appeal on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.
“Yes, he has not declared that he wants to run for election, but for somebody like me, I am praying for a day that will come when President Goodluck Jonathan will declare and say, ‘I want to run’,” Tsado said.
He urged Jonathan’s associates to encourage him, recalling the speculations that circulated in 2023 about his possible candidacy.
“Those who have his contacts, those who have access to him, should speak to him. They should point out the other rumors around in 2023 that he was going to run and all that. There were rumors, but this time around, [they should tell him], ‘Please come around, sir, because Nigerian people today need you’.”
Jonathan, who took office in 2010 following the death of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and later won the 2011 election, lost his 2015 re-election bid to Muhammadu Buhari — marking the first time an incumbent president was defeated in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.
Tsado argued that Jonathan’s decision to concede defeat in 2015 set him apart as a leader not desperate for power.
“In fact, he demonstrated he’s not somebody who is desperate to be in government. You remember when he said his ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian, and someone said recently that President Goodluck Jonathan lost the election in 2015 but gained the people. And at the moment, I think that is what is working for him.”
The former ADP aspirant stressed that Jonathan’s current standing in Nigerian politics is enviable.
“You see, the position that President Goodluck, former President Goodluck Jonathan, finds himself today is a position that most politicians are yearning for,” Tsado added.
