2027: PDP kicks as Turaki faction presents Jonathan as candidate

The Peoples Democratic Party has described as “illegal and worthless” the purported submission of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the party’s 2027 presidential candidate by the Taminu Turaki-led faction of the PDP.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Jungudo Mohammed, said only a legally recognised party leadership with authorised access to INEC’s candidate nomination portal could submit the names of candidates.

The Turaki faction on Friday claimed to have manually submitted Jonathan’s name as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary of the Interim National Working Committee, Ini Ememobong, said the party remained confident that the Court of Appeal would overturn a recent Federal High Court judgment which declined to compel INEC to recognise the interim leadership.

According to him, the PDP resorted to litigation after INEC allegedly refused to recognise the interim leadership constituted by the party’s Board of Trustees and a member-requisitioned National Executive Committee following the Supreme Court judgment that, according to the party, left it without a legally recognised National Working Committee.

“Our decision to seek judicial intervention was, and remains, about preserving the integrity of the Peoples Democratic Party from those who seek to reduce Nigeria’s foremost opposition party into an appendage of the ruling party,” Ememobong said.

He alleged that the campaign against the PDP was part of a broader effort to weaken opposition parties and pave the way for a one-party state.

“We were the pioneer target for opposition dismantling and capture as part of the pressure for the attainment of a one-party state, but it has now spread to almost all the opposition parties,” he stated.

The spokesman disclosed that despite INEC’s refusal to provide the party with access codes for the electronic submission of candidates, the party manually submitted its list of candidates in compliance with the Electoral Act 2026.

He noted that the party’s submission included “presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as all governorship, National Assembly and state assembly candidates.

“Notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes—which is an administrative convenience rather than a legal requirement—we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party.”

The party expressed concern that INEC might publish the names of candidates submitted by another faction and urged its members not to lose hope should that happen.

The faction also warned that any attempt by the electoral commission to publish candidates submitted by any group other than the one it described as the “authentic leadership” of the PDP would further damage public confidence in the neutrality of the electoral umpire.

“Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us, we urge our members, supporters and the teeming Nigerians who eagerly await the candidature of President Jonathan and our other candidates not to despair. We are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party,” Ememobong said.

But reacting to the claim, Mohammed stated that the Turaki-led faction lacked the legal standing to nominate candidates or transmit any list to the electoral umpire.

The party called on Jonathan to distance himself from the Turaki-led faction over its purported submission of his name.

Mohammed warned that Jonathan’s continued silence over the development could be interpreted as tacit approval of the actions of the group.

He described the move as an “unfortunate charade,” urging the former president to publicly clear his name before more damage was done to his reputation.

“It is just wishful thinking and the most unfortunate thing about the whole of this charade is how a respected former president of this country, Goodluck Jonathan, has allowed himself to be ridiculed by this group of recalcitrant and disloyal citizens of this country.

“It is shameful that he has allowed himself to be used and we maintain that it is good for him to speak to Nigerians so that he will clear his name from this unfortunate charade.

“Jonathan’s continued silence only means that he is consenting to their charade. Whatever these people are doing and he keeps mute, it means he is aiding it, he is supporting it and unless he speaks otherwise, many Nigerians, including myself, will believe that there is an element of consent to whatever they are doing,” he said.

Mohammed explained that INEC’s nomination process was conducted electronically through secure access codes issued to recognised political parties, stressing that there was no manual procedure for submitting candidates’ names.

He said, “To submit candidates’ names to INEC, you must have an access code given by INEC and you have to submit these names by using these codes. You have to upload them on a server using these access codes.

“INEC did not prescribe any manual way of submitting a list of candidates. How did their purported candidates list emerge? Did they hold primaries? Were they monitored by INEC? Are they even legally recognised? No, so they cannot just wake up and compile names for INEC.

“I can tell you that the names they claimed to have submitted to INEC deserve nothing other than to be shredded by INEC because INEC cannot deal with any document that is not backed by law. INEC is a creation of law and INEC can only act in accordance with the laws of the land.”