Dr. Abdul-Azeez Adediran, popularly known as “Jandor” and the Lead Visioner of the Lagos4Lagos Movement, has offered sharp political advice to former President Goodluck Jonathan: do not heed the calls urging you to contest the presidency in 2027.
Speaking in Lagos during an interview, Adediran—who ran as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in 2023—was emphatic that Jonathan would be taking a massive political risk. He predicted that any contest would see Jonathan reduced to a minnow at the polls against the current President, Bola Tinubu.
Adediran urged the former leader to enjoy his retirement, suggesting that those pushing him to challenge President Tinubu are ultimately deceiving him. He painted President Tinubu as “a master in the game of politics” who, in his view, cannot be defeated by Jonathan or any other political figure in the next election cycle.
“I disagree with people calling on Jonathan to re-contest, people saying Jonathan is the only person who can challenge Tinubu, citing his popularity and experience,” Jandor said. He then drew a key distinction between the two figures. “It was this same man (Tinubu) who defeated him (Jonathan) from the outside. So, they are not the same.”
Jandor went on to contrast their paths to the presidency: “If you accidentally found yourself at the Aso Villa as President, it is different from somebody who gave his all to get there. It is different from somebody who, against all odds, got there. They did all sorts for him not to get there, and he got there. Such a man cannot be put side by side with somebody who just slept and woke up and found himself on the seat of President.”
In his view, any attempt by Jonathan to dislodge Tinubu in 2027 would simply be a waste of time. He even suggested that Jonathan should heed the counsel of his wife, Patience, who has also publicly advised against a 2027 run. Adediran believes that President Tinubu’s personality, popularity, and experience are politically “intimidating,” and Jonathan should not risk a “humiliating defeat.” In fact, he stated confidently that the President has performed well for Nigeria and will be re-elected in 2027.
Applauding President Tinubu for his economic reforms, Adediran called for sustained support, arguing that the reforms are beginning to yield unprecedented benefits for the people at the state and local government levels.
“We are not saying all is well, but at least the President has shown the courage to take our common patrimony from the pocket of the few in the name of fuel subsidy and return it to the country, state, and the local government,” he said. He highlighted the impact: “Now the allocation is tripled; not that the money is collected and retained it at the centre, the state and local governments now have enough money to impact lives.” He noted this puts an end to the era under the late President Muhammadu Buhari where states sometimes resumed from FAAC meetings with “zero allocation.”
Adediran also commended the administration for stabilizing foreign exchange, which he said rescued Nigeria from dubious practices stemming from massive discrepancies between official and parallel market rates. “That is no longer the issue now. We can’t have a billionaire overnight through corrupt practices in foreign exchange. This man put a stop to that.”
While acknowledging the reforms have brought certain inconveniences, Jandor challenged state and local governments to deploy the newly huge allocations effectively to alleviate suffering at the grassroots. He concluded that while the economy has undoubtedly “taken a corner” at the macro level, it will naturally take time for the benefits to “trickle down” to the micro-level. Finally, he called on the Nigerian Armed Forces to assist the President in addressing the nation’s security challenges.
