Isaac Samuel
A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) backed by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has named former President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
The decision was announced on Tuesday during the faction’s presidential screening exercise in Abuja.
A member of the screening committee, Babangida Aliyu, said the former president was exempted from the screening process after being granted a waiver, citing his extensive experience in public service.
According to him, Jonathan’s past roles as deputy governor, governor, vice president, and president made further screening unnecessary.
“The party had already given our presidential aspirant the waiver, like I said in the beginning that he was deputy governor, became governor, became vice president, became president so we didn’t see anything that needed screening and therefore the party had given him waiver.
“In other words, he had been declared and cleared as the candidate of the PDP for the presidential election and that is president Jonathan,” he said.
The announcement effectively positions Jonathan as the consensus candidate of the faction ahead of the 2027 elections.
The faction also granted screening waivers to other aspirants, including Taofeek Arapaja, a member of its Interim National Working Committee, and cleared several governorship hopefuls across different states, including Adamawa, Taraba, Delta, and Yobe.
