This week, Nigerian politics took an unusual turn as two key ministers stepped outside their roles in government to warn the opposition about its 2027 presidential ticket.

Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, in a post on X last Sunday, cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against fielding former President Goodluck Jonathan.

?If PDP makes the mistake of presenting Jonathan as its candidate in 2027, they run the risk of not having a candidate at all. This is because all the arguments as to whether the section can be interpreted to affect him will not be decided on social media, but at the Supreme Court. If he is barred by the Supreme Court, nobody should scream ?judiciary is corrupt? because such a large party saw the judicial danger ahead and deliberately ignored it,? he wrote.

Keyamo also weighed in on talk of Jonathan reuniting with Peter Obi

?The principled ones among the ?Obidients? will see him as going back to his vomit (sorry to use that phrase) and may not be too vociferous in their support anymore. The only segment of the ?Obidients? who will accept him are those who are just ?ASUU students? (Anyhow Sugar Sugar University), who never had any ideological bent in the first place.?

He ended his warning by blaming PDP?s internal problems

?The real problem of the PDP is zoning. They left it open in 2023 because of one man?s ambition, and now they are in a fix. They may end up waiting till 2031, except something extraordinary happens,? Keyamo added.

The following day, Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and still a member of the PDP National Executive Committee, issued his own warning during a live media briefing in Abuja.

?These people?s ambition can even make you go to Satan?s house. If you want to destroy this party, dare to bring Peter Obi,? the former Rivers governor said.

In another clip from the same session, he doubled down

?Some of us have stayed here, we have seen it all. If you like, don?t listen. But don?t say we did not warn you. If you make the mistake, you will regret it.?

The ministers? warnings, delivered publicly and with dramatic flair, sparked strong reactions across the political spectrum.

Timothy Osadolor, PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, criticised Keyamo?s post as inappropriate.

?I don?t know who Keyamo thinks he is to be warning the PDP. Such a reckless statement is unbecoming of a minister who is supposed to serve the Nigerian people. For him to imagine that he can dictate to Nigerians what they should or should not do in 2027 is self-serving and completely unnecessary,? he told Saturday Vanguard.

Paul Ibe, spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar, said the remarks only revealed fear within the ruling party.

?When ruling party officials begin to dictate to the opposition, it shows fear. They are afraid of the calibre of candidates the PDP or ADC can produce,? he said.

On television, Reuben Abati, veteran journalist and co-anchor on Arise TV, directed his criticism at Wike.

?Wike is not in a position to talk about character. In fact, if he talks about character, he should question his own character,? Abati said.

With these reactions, the debate shifted. Rather than making the PDP look weak, the focus turned to APC ministers appearing jittery and desperate.

Fear Unmasked

THE ministers? interventions also revealed a wider strategy. Keyamo made it clear that if Jonathan were to run, his candidacy would be challenged in court.

Chidi Odinkalu, legal scholar, outlined what such a move could look like: ?Challenge will materialise, questioning GEJ?s eligibility to run under the constitution. They will sue him, his party, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and will ask the courts to restrain INEC from recognising him as a candidate in the election.

?The suit will slowly make its way to a decision. Then, suddenly, around the week before the vote, judgment will come down restraining the party from presenting GEJ as a candidate and restraining the INEC from having him on the ballot.

?Any serious threat to the incumbent?s ambitions will have been judicially squelched. The script is so easily authored that the ruling party must be licking its chops at the idea of a Jonathan candidacy.?

By openly raising the prospect of legal obstacles, APC leaders suggested that Jonathan was not a candidate they could dismiss at the polls, only in the courts.

Wike?s harsh words against Obi, meanwhile, pointed to unease over Obi?s enduring grassroots support, especially among younger Nigerians.

Legal Counterweights

Lawyers and scholars have weighed in heavily on the debate.

Prof. Cyprian Edward-Ekpo, of the Institute of Law Research & Development at the UN, dismissed Keyamo?s warning in an interview with Saturday Vanguard.

?What authority does he have to advise the opposition? He is not a neutral figure in politics, so his advice should not be taken seriously.

?Why would an opponent, who is clearly pursuing his own interests, advise another party on who should or should not contest? Goodluck Jonathan has the constitutional right to contest.

?The only issue is whether he can win, that is the real question. He has already served as vice president and later as president. The Constitution must guide us here. If you have been vice president for less than four years, and later president in the same period, the question is: can you return to contest again? I think Goodluck still has the chance to run for president.

?My position is that Keyamo does not even have the locus standi or the moral right to give such advice. He is not the proper person to do so because he is partisan. He is openly working for Bola Tinubu and campaigning for the APC.

?Therefore, it is not within his remit to try to determine the rights of other people to participate in the country?s political process. On moral and legal grounds, you cannot tell another qualified citizen not to contest.

?Every Nigerian who meets the requirements has that right. Even you or I could contest for president, provided we are 35 years or older, possess the minimum qualification of an SSCE, and have the resources to purchase the nomination form. So why is he advising others not to run? It makes no sense.

?Ultimately, it is the people who should decide through their votes. If they believe in a candidate, let them support him. If the American people could vote for Donald Trump, then surely Nigerians can vote for anyone they deem fit to lead the country.?

Another legal luminary, Monday Ubani, SAN, clarified Jonathan?s status: ?Jonathan has the legal right to run for the 2027 presidential election under the provisions of the 1999 Constitution. His first assumption of office was not through an election but by constitutional operation. His first elected term began in 2011, and court judgments have consistently upheld his right to seek re-election.?

By contrast, Barr. Kolawole Esan argued otherwise: ?Section 137 was amended in 2017 by the Fourth Alteration No. 16 of 2017 as follows: (3) A person who was sworn in as president to complete the term for which another person was elected as president shall not be elected to such office for more than a single term.?

Another lawyer, Yomi Ogunlola Esq., added: ?Nigeria is a land where the impossible can be possible! Ordinarily, he is, in my opinion, ineligible! But, it is what it is.?

Prof. Labode Popoola, former Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University, shifted the focus to performance.

?Those who think Jonathan or any of the power hustlers should be preferred in 2027 should be asked a very sincere question: Will those two policies be reversed by the power hustlers? Of course, they dare not,? Popoola said.

But Prof. Olu Oyedokun took a different view: ?The law refers to tenure rather than swearing in as the limitation on the office of the President. And tenure relates to elections; the key is how many times he has won elections. It will seem once; if so, he is expected to be allowed to contest again under the original 1999 Constitution.?

These competing interpretations highlight the uncertainty, Jonathan?s candidacy, if pursued, will almost certainly face litigation.

Voters, Not Ministers, Will Decide What do these interventions reveal?

First, APC ministers are clearly anxious about the opposition?s potential to rally behind Jonathan, Obi, or even Amaechi. Otherwise, they would not spend time warning about them.

Second, they expose the fragility of Nigerian democracy, where courts, not ballots, could ultimately decide a candidate?s fate.

Third, they highlight a legitimacy crisis. For Jonathan, the choice remains between risking a judicial ambush or maintaining his stature as elder statesman.

For Obi, the challenge is navigating whether a PDP return would fracture his base or expand his reach.

For Wike and Keyamo, the challenge is explaining to Nigerians why ministers serving in the government of a ruling party appear more obsessed with the opposition than with governance.

From Advice to Anxiety to Affirmation

This week, Keyamo?s X post and Wike?s media briefing thought they were scripting the opposition?s undoing. Instead, they showcased the opposition?s relevance and the ruling party?s fear.

Keyamo himself admitted PDP could be legally decapitated if it fields Jonathan. Wike warned that Obi could ?destroy? PDP. Both statements made headlines not because they were instructive, but because they betrayed unease.

As Timothy Osadolor argued, it is not the role of an APC minister to warn the PDP. As Paul Ibe framed it, such warnings are signs of fear. As Abati quipped, those who talk about character should first examine their own.

In the end, Nigeria?s 2027 presidency will not be determined on X posts, live briefings, or even in the Supreme Court corridors. It should be determined by voters, millions of them, waiting to cast ballots in a country where surprises are the only constant. (Saturday Vanguard)

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