President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former president Goodluck Jonathan met behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, sparking new political rumors ahead of the general elections in 2027.The meeting was held behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa on Sunday, and neither Jonathan’s camp nor the Presidency released a formal statement outlining the reason for the visit.A snapshot of the two leaders together at Aso Rock was the sole public evidence of the encounter.Following attempts by a group of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Kabiru Turaki, to nominate him as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Jonathan’s visit coincides with continuing political debates surrounding his name.
The former president has remained silent and has not openly accepted or rejected the nomination in spite of the development.Jonathan allegedly gave the Turaki-led PDP group permission to submit his nomination to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with those of candidates for governorship, the National Assembly, and state assemblies.INEC, however, rejected the submission, stating that all nominations must be submitted via its official online portal in compliance with the commission’s guidelines and the Electoral Act.Candidate nominations could only be processed electronically via the commission’s authorized platform, according to Victoria Eta-Messi, Director of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC.
The faction’s submission was essentially invalidated by the commission’s ruling, and Jonathan’s name was left off of INEC’s final list of 19 presidential contenders.The PDP group maintained that its actions were in compliance with the Electoral Act despite the defeat, claiming that it was not allowed to use INEC’s internet nomination system.Ini Ememobong, the National Publicity Secretary for the faction, advised against accepting any candidate list other than the one put forth by his group and accused the election commission of failing to maintain objectivity in the party’s internal strife.Additionally, he criticized a recent Federal High Court ruling on the matter, claiming that it went against earlier rulings from the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
Jonathan’s meeting with President Tinubu marks the first publicly known engagement between the two leaders since the controversy over his reported presidential nomination, further intensifying political interest as preparations for the 2027 elections gather momentum.
