News Investigators/ The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Delta, Benedict Etanabene, has urged former President Goodluck Jonathan to accept calls to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Mr Etanabene, representing Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency of Delta in the House of Representatives, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He dismissed the assertion that returning to the murky waters of politics could damage Jonathan’s hard-earned democratic integrity, saying exceptional situations required tested hands.
The governorship candidate noted that developed democracies sometimes recalled experienced leaders during national emergencies.
He cited the political returns of Donald Trump in the United States and John Mahama in Ghana as valid institutional precedents.
“In US, Trump was there before now. He left, they brought him back. They voted for him. The Ghanaian president was there before. He came back, they voted for him.
“What I know in life is that if we have a problem and we need somebody to fix it, we look for persons who have the capacity to do it; we don’t discourage them from coming, ” he said.
The lawmaker also countered critics who argued that Jonathan should only remain an elder statesman to stabilise the country during a total breakdown, calling such logic unthinkable.
“We do not need to wait for the country to snowball into an absolute catastrophe before calling on Jonathan.
“When societies are in deep difficulty, they look for their best tested hands,” he said.
He recalled that under Jonathan’s tenure, Nigeria maintained its status as the largest economy in Africa while the country’s democratic institutions, including the judiciary and the legislature, maintained “healthy independence.’’
Mr Etanabene also described Jonathan’s famous mantra—that his ambition was not worth the blood of any Nigerian—as the essential paradigm shift needed to heal current political divisions.
“Leadership is sacrifice; former President Jonathan is comfortable and globally respected, but when your house is on fire, you do not sit back.
“I am pleading with him to consider accepting the invitation of millions of Nigerians to run in 2027 to ensure we still have a country we can call our own,” Etabene added.
NAN
