Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro said Tuesday that there are ongoing talks to convince former President Goodluck Jonathan, ex-Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to join the 2027 presidential race on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform.
Mr Moro, a PDP stalwart, who served as the Minister of Interior during Mr Jonathan’s administration, disclosed that top members of the PDP approached the former president as well as Governor Makinde to persuade them to give the presidency a shot in 2027.
For Mr Obi, the senator said that while the party had not officially met with the former Labour Party presidential candidate, there are ongoing moves by top personalities of the party to woo him back to the party to jostle for its presidential ticket.
“No, as a party, we have not spoken to Peter Obi…And so in the run-up to 2027, I’m aware that certain individuals have been talking to Peter Obi to come back home,” he said on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’. “This is what we are likely going to do. And if you come, you stand a chance of being a candidate.”
He noted that “the conversation is predicated on the belief of such individuals that if Peter Obi comes back and is the most favoured candidate, the most supported candidate, and becomes a candidate, the PDP will make an impact in the 2027 election.”
In July, another PDP elder, Jerry Gana, confirmed ongoing efforts to bring Mr Obi back to the party to run for the presidency.
Mr Moro, who owned up to being part of those talking to Mr Obi, stated that the party would thoroughly assess individuals to determine the most-suited candidate.
“By the time Nigerians in the PDP gather and weigh the pros and cons of all the candidates, PDP members will be able to pick a candidate by their estimation that is capable of challenging the All Progressive Congress (APC) government,” Mr Moro said.
2027 shaping up
This conversation comes amidst the party’s National Executive Council (NEC)’s resolution that the party’s presidential ticket for the 2027 general elections will be zoned to the South. The decision was disclosed on Monday.
It came amid raging internal crises that have rocked the PDP since the May 2022 presidential primary that produced Atiku Abubakar as the party’s flag bearer.
This led to open rebellion from Nyesom Wike and the G5 governors– Samuel Ortom, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu (former governors of Benue, Enugu, and Abia), and Mr Makinde.
Asked if picking Atiku as the PDP’s presidential flag bearer for the 2023 presidential election was an error, Mr Moro admitted that “as a result of the way the elections turned out and because Nigerian people spoke, definitely it was an error.”
All the three persons that were tipped by Moro as PDP’s possible presidential candidates for the 2027 general elections are from the South to which the party has zoned the presidency.
But as of now, only Mr Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate under the PDP banner in the 2019 presidential election, is officially a non-member of the party.
He dumped the party to run for the presidency on the Labour Party’s platform in 2023.
Mr Obi came third, behind Atiku, in the presidential election that was won by President Bola Tinubu.
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He recently announced his alignment with a coalition of top opposition figures who adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as their chosen platform to wrest power from Mr Tinubu in 2027. But Mr Obi has not officially joined the party.
A rematch could unfold in 2027, should Mr Obi return to PDP and succeed in picking its presidential ticket, while Atiku wins ADC’s ticket and Mr Tinubu emerges as APC’s candidate as widely expected.
Mr Jonathan sought a second term as incumbent president on the PDP platform in 2015 but lost to the then-opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Since his defeat, he has recoiled to a low profile to the background within the PDP, preferring to project statesmanship image of himself in his public engagements. But he has not officially announced his resignation from the party.
In fact, in 2023, Mr Jonathan was rumoured to be angling for the APC’s presidential ticket. While his silence continued to fuel the speculations, he ended up not taking any step to realise that goal.
Mr Makinde, who is in his second and final term as Oyo State governor, is still one of the influential power brokers in the party. He is believed to have a self-driven interest to run for the presidency in 2027, although he has yet to publicly announce such a plan.