A former presidential aspirant, Mathias Tsado, has urged associates of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to prevail on him to run for the 2027 presidential election, arguing that the former Bayelsa governor possesses the qualities needed to reposition the country.

Tsado, a former presidential aspirant of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), made the call on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily.

“Yes, he has not declared that he wants to run for election, but for somebody like me, I am praying for a day that will come when President Goodluck Jonathan will declare and say, ‘I want to run’,’” Tsado said.

“Those who have his contacts, those who have access to him, should speak to him. They should point out the other rumors around in 2023 that he was going to run and all that. There were rumors, but this time around, [they should tell him], ‘Please come around, sir, because Nigerian people today need you’.”

Jonathan, a former president, lost to Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 elections — the first time an incumbent was defeated since the return of democracy in the country in 1999.

The former Bayelsa governor became the president in May 2010 after the death of Umaru Yar’Adua. He was then elected in 2011, serving a full term of four years before losing to Buhari.

However, Tsado believes Jonathan demonstrated statesmanship by conceding defeat to Buhari, a sign that he was not desperate for power.

“In fact, he demonstrated he’s not somebody who is desperate to be in government.

“You remember when he said his ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian, and someone said recently that President Goodluck Jonathan lost the election in 2015 but gained the people. And at the moment, I think that is what is working for him,” the former ADP presidential aspirant told the morning show crew from Channels Television’s Abuja studio.

According to him, Jonathan has attained a position many politicians in the country are aspiring for.

“You see, the position that President Goodluck, former President Goodluck Jonathan, finds himself today is a position that most politicians are yearning for,” he said. (Channels TV)