Former President Goodluck Jonathan has distanced himself from an Instagram post implying that he intends to run for president again in 2027.
The message, published by an account carrying Jonathan’s name, slammed Nigeria’s present leaders, stating they are “pretending to sleep” and encouraging citizens to vote for better leadership in 2027.
“Since our current leaders are pretending to sleep, we pray that we will get our good leadership back in 2027; your choice will determine the betterment of our future,” the post read.
The message was accompanied by music and what appears to be an AI-generated image of Jonathan shaking hands with US President Donald Trump. The post has since received more than 16,000 views and 1,261 comments.
When contacted by TheCable on Friday, Jonathan’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze, denounced the post as phoney and stated that the former president does not use Instagram.
Eye clarified that the former President Jonathan does not own an Instagram account.
This is not the first time Jonathan has had to deny political activities associated with his name. Ahead of the 2023 elections, he rejected a presidential nomination form acquired on his behalf by a support organisation. Jonathan disavowed the form, which was purchased on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, in a statement released by his media team.
“He was not aware of this bid and did not authorise it,” the statement read at the time.
