Former President Goodluck Jonathan has been urged to stay out of the 2027 presidential race and not contest against President Bola Tinubu, despite calls from bigwigs, particularly from the northern blocs, in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The PDP has recently zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the south, and it has publicly expressed its willingness to field the former president as its presidential candidate, considering the fact that he would not be running for two terms.

While it was recently reported that Jonathan Camps has been meeting to pave the way for him to get the ticket in the PDP, and the consistent silence of the former president on the call, some influential Nigerians have urged him to maintain his current status as a statesman.

Below is the list of those who have urged him to remain a statesman:

Patience Jonathan

The former first lady has publicly called on her husband to stay out of the race, while lamenting the pressure that comes with holding public office, when she received the Women Icon Leader of the Year Award in Abuja in May. She added that the current peace she enjoys is enough for her and subsequently endorsed the administration of President Bola Tinubu. She also promised to campaign for Tinubu's second term in office.

Her statement reads in part: "The distress of Nigeria is so much that if God manages to bring you out of it, you should glorify Him. Why do you want to go back there?"

Nyesom Wike

The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, recently cautioned the former president against returning to the presidential race in 2027. Though Wike now served as minister under Tinubu, he was one of those die-hard supporters of Jonathan in the 2015 saga, when the ex-president was defeated. The former Rivers governor urged him to continue in his role as an international statesman. Speaking at a media parley in Abuja on Monday, September 1, Wike further dismissed claims about Jonathan’s possible comeback on the PDP platform.

Adams Oshiomhole

In a covert message to Jonathan against being Tinubu's opposition in the 2027 presidential election, the Edo North senator, Oshiomhole, made a subtle warning to the former president and urged him to remain an elder statesman.

Oshiomhole, a two-term governor of Edo and former national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), made the call while speaking at the 70th birthday celebration of Chief Mike Aiyegbeni Oghiadomhe in Benin, the Edo state capital.