Turaki-led PDP Adopts Jonathan as 2027 Presidential Candidate, Grants Screening Waiver

Jonathan Becomes PDP Presidential Candidate Without Screening

The Tanimu Turaki faction of the PDP has adopted former President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole presidential candidate for 2027, granting him a full screening waiver.

Babangida Aliyu, the former Niger State governor who chairs the faction’s screening committee, made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja. He said Jonathan’s history made the screening redundant.

“He was deputy governor, became governor, became vice president, became president — so we didn’t see anything that needed screening,” Aliyu told journalists at the TransCorp Hilton. “He has been declared and cleared as a candidate of the PDP for the presidential election.”

The committee also granted a waiver to Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, the faction’s National Secretary, who was away in Ibadan attending to party business.

Court Ruling Looms on May 25

The adoption comes days before an Abuja court is set to rule — on May 25 — on whether Jonathan is even eligible to run in 2027. The constitutional question is whether his one elected term plus the partial term he served after Umaru Yar’Adua’s death counts as two terms, which would bar him under the constitution.

The PDP remains torn in two. The Turaki faction has now formalised Jonathan’s candidacy, but the rival camp led by Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde and former Senate President Adolphus Wabara doesn’t recognise Turaki’s leadership at all.

Aspirants for governor and other offices from Taraba, Adamawa, Kano, Akwa Ibom, and Delta also faced the screening panel on Tuesday. Aliyu said more would follow.

“We are very happy that even those who have been attempting to kill the party cannot succeed,” he said.

Asked point-blank whether Jonathan is now the party’s presidential candidate, Aliyu replied: “As far as I know, as far as of today, at this moment — yes, sir.”

Sources: Leadership, BusinessDay, The Eagle Online