The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has refuted reports suggesting that former President Goodluck Jonathan is under pressure to contest the 2027 presidential election, describing the speculation as unfounded.
Wike made the clarification during a media parley with journalists in Abuja on Friday, where he addressed a range of political issues, including developments within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Reacting to questions about alleged moves to draft Jonathan back into the presidential race, Wike said the former president has never communicated such intentions to him.
“You’re the one telling me here. Jonathan has never told me; he has never called me one day to say, ‘I’m being pressured to run; what’s your thinking?’ If he calls me and asks, I’ll be able to tell him my mind and what I feel,” Wike said.
The minister further dismissed the reports as typical media speculation, adding, “I will not, because you people put something on the pages of the newspapers — just like you said they flew me out of the country — then assume it’s correct.”
Turning to internal matters within the PDP, Wike distanced himself from the emergence of former Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), as the purported consensus candidate for the party’s national chairmanship position.
“I don’t know about Tanimu Turaki becoming chairman; maybe he becomes chairman for another faction — it’s not the PDP I know,” he stated.
Northern PDP stakeholders had recently endorsed Turaki as their consensus candidate ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for November 15–16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Wike, however, dismissed the convention as illegal and hinted that he would not participate.
“How do you want me to attend a convention that I know by law that there is no convention?” he queried.
The former Rivers State governor’s remarks highlight the deepening divisions within the PDP as it approaches a crucial leadership transition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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