A striptease does exactly what its name suggests: it stimulates your emotions through gradual revelation. The dancer stands in front of you, slowly and seductively removing their clothing while some soft, sweet music plays. Now, picture this: the music is tight, the light is dim, the anticipation is building, but this dancer just never reveals anything. Yes, that’s how I feel about the rumoured presidential ambition of former president Goodluck Jonathan, who has refused to confirm or deny his interest. Nobody knows for sure if he will be running in 2027, and he seems to be getting a kick out of watching us only partially aroused. Even more irritating, we played the same game in 2023. This year, we are back at the same spot. A PDP faction named him as their presidential candidate, offered him a certificate of return (collected on his behalf by a proxy), and left everyone still speculating. In all of this, the man himself has not spoken decisively on what he intends to do.
We have been talking about his presidential ambition since 2021 or so. First, it was all the legal hurdles he needed to overcome to be qualified to contest. Then came the season of electioneering when people ran around for him while he stayed in the shadows. At that time, the story was that he would only contest if he did not need to go through the PDP party primaries and just offered a ticket. The election came and went without him saying anything. The only thing close to a confirmation of his stance came from his wife, Patience, who vowed in 2024 that she was through with politics forever. From his aides, all you ever hear is a rebuke of those who speculate on his ambition, never a confirmation nor a denial.
