The Lead Visioner of the Lagos4Lagos Movement, Dr. Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor), has urged former President Goodluck Jonathan not to heed calls to contest the 2027 presidential election.

Adediran, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos in 2023, gave the advice during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.

He warned that Jonathan would be taking a major political risk if he decided to run, predicting that President Bola Tinubu would easily defeat him at the polls.

According to him, those encouraging Jonathan to recontest were merely deceiving him.

“Tinubu is a master in the game of politics. He cannot be defeated by Jonathan or any other figure in 2027,” Adediran said.

He dismissed suggestions that Jonathan’s experience and popularity made him a formidable challenger to Tinubu.

“It was this same man (Tinubu) who defeated him (Jonathan) from the outside. They are not on the same level.
If you accidentally found yourself in Aso Villa as President, it’s different from someone who fought against all odds to get there,” he said.

Adediran argued that it would be a waste of time for Jonathan to attempt to unseat Tinubu, urging him to listen to his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, who had also advised against a 2027 comeback.

He described Tinubu’s personality, political experience, and popularity as “intimidating”, adding that any attempt to challenge him would result in “a humiliating defeat.”

Commending Tinubu’s economic reforms, Adediran said the President deserved re-election, noting that the reforms were beginning to yield results across all tiers of government.

“We are not saying all is well, but the President has shown courage by taking our common wealth from the pockets of a few—through the removal of fuel subsidy—and returning it to the country, states, and local governments.
Now, allocations have tripled. States and councils now have enough to impact lives,” he said.

He contrasted the current situation with what he described as the Buhari era, when states often returned from FAAC meetings with “zero allocations.”

Adediran also lauded Tinubu’s efforts in stabilising the foreign exchange market, noting that discrepancies between official and parallel market rates had significantly reduced.

“We can’t have billionaires overnight through corrupt forex practices anymore. The President put a stop to that,” he added.

While acknowledging that some of the reforms had caused short-term hardship, Adediran challenged state and local governments to use their increased revenue to cushion the effects on citizens.

“If subnational governments deploy these funds effectively, it will reduce the burden on ordinary Nigerians.
At the macro level, the economy has turned a corner, but it will take time before the benefits reach the grassroots,” he said.

Adediran also called on the Nigerian Armed Forces to support the President in addressing the country’s lingering security challenges.