Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The political uncertainty surrounding former President Goodluck Jonathan’s potential return to the presidential race deepened dramatically on Monday and Tuesday, May 18 and 19, 2026, when he failed to appear for the submission of his nomination form and subsequent screening before a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that had adopted him as its sole presidential aspirant. Party officials aligned with the Tanimu Turaki-led faction, which is backed by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, reportedly waited from morning until 4 p.m. on Monday at an undisclosed location in Abuja expecting Jonathan to formally submit his expression of interest and nomination forms ahead of a scheduled screening exercise. However, the former president never arrived. As the hours stretched on and the former president remained conspicuously absent, the party had no choice but to announce that the submission had been postponed indefinitely, leaving supporters and political observers alike scrambling for answers about what had gone wrong.
A PDP chieftain, Lere Olayinka, who is a prominent member of the rival faction aligned with Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, disclosed the development in a post shared on his official Facebook page, delivering the news with a mixture of bemusement and pointed political commentary. “The Turaki-led PDP waited from morning till 4pm today for President Goodluck Jonathan to come and submit a nomination form to contest for president,” Olayinka wrote. “As at 4pm, they didn’t see Jonathan. They had to announce that the submission was postponed indefinitely.” Olayinka’s post, which quickly circulated across Nigerian social media, added an embarrassing layer to what was already a deeply confusing moment for the faction that had publicly staked its 2027 ambitions on Jonathan’s candidacy. Just the day before, on Sunday, May 17, the Turaki-led faction had issued a statement proudly announcing that it had adopted Jonathan as its sole presidential candidate and had fixed Tuesday, May 19, for his screening. A 14-member screening committee, which included former Vice-President Namadi Sambo, former Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, former Foreign Affairs Minister Tom Ikimi, Chief Olabode George, and other prominent party figures, had been constituted specifically to screen Jonathan as the lone aspirant.
The dramatic no-show comes against the backdrop of a deeply fractured PDP, which is currently split into at least two major factions ahead of the 2027 general elections. One faction is led by Tanimu Turaki and enjoys the backing of Governor Seyi Makinde, while the other is aligned with Minister Nyesom Wike and has released its own separate timetable for primaries. The Wike-backed faction has set the cost of its presidential nomination and expression of interest forms at N51 million, with the sale of forms scheduled from April 27 to May 4 and a submission deadline of May 9. In contrast, the Turaki-led faction fixed a heftier N100 million total cost for its presidential nomination forms when it unveiled its own timetable. These competing structures have created an extraordinarily confusing environment for party members and aspirants, with no clear resolution yet in sight as to which faction, if any, will be recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when the election cycle officially begins.
Jonathan himself has been characteristically restrained throughout the speculation, never publicly declaring his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election despite mounting pressure from supporters who have staged rallies urging him to return to office. The former president, who served as vice president from 2007 to 2010 and then as president from 2010 to 2015, has consistently stated that he would consult widely before making a final decision on the race. While the Turaki-led faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, had disclosed earlier that Jonathan completed the party’s fresh digital membership registration exercise as directed by INEC, that procedural step falls far short of a formal declaration of candidacy. Indeed, Ememobong himself had been noncommittal when asked about Jonathan’s plans, saying only that the choice of buying a nomination form, when to buy it, and where to buy from, was entirely Jonathan’s to make.
Complicating matters further, Jonathan is currently engaged in a legal battle to defend his eligibility to contest the presidency at all. On the same day as the failed form submission, it emerged that Jonathan and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, had asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit filed by an Abuja-based lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi, seeking to stop Jonathan from contesting for president in 2027. Jideobi argues that Jonathan has exhausted the constitutional limit allowed for a president, having completed the tenure of the late Umaru Yar’Adua after Yar’Adua’s death in May 2010, before serving another full term following his election victory in 2011. Justice Peter Lifu has fixed May 26, 2026, for a composite judgment that will include a ruling on Jideobi’s application asking the judge to recuse himself. If the court rules against Jonathan, the entire question of his 2027 ambition could be rendered moot regardless of whether he ever submits a nomination form.
In the hours following the failed submission, neither Jonathan nor his spokespersons have issued any statement explaining his absence or clarifying his intentions. The Turaki-led faction, which had gone as far as announcing the constitution of a screening committee specifically for him, has also remained largely silent beyond the brief postponement announcement. Meanwhile, the rival Wike-backed faction has not missed an opportunity to draw attention to the episode. Olayinka’s Facebook post, which first broke the news of the no-show, came from within that faction, and the Wike camp has consistently maintained that Jonathan has not purchased forms from them nor been in discussions with them. The contrast could hardly be starker: one faction openly adopted Jonathan as its sole candidate, while the other insists it has no communication with him at all.
For the millions of Nigerians watching this political drama unfold, the question now is not whether Jonathan will run, but whether anyone truly knows what his plans are. The Turaki-led faction’s indefinite postponement of the submission leaves Jonathan with an open door to step forward at a later date, should he choose to do so. But it also leaves the faction looking exposed, having announced a major political development that its own presumed candidate failed to honor. As the May 26 court date approaches, and as the PDP’s internal factional wars show no sign of resolution, the mystery of Goodluck Jonathan’s 2027 ambition remains as perplexing as ever. Whether the former president eventually emerges from the shadows to submit a form, or retreats entirely from the race, one thing is certain: the waiting for Jonathan continues.
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