Hundreds of youths under the Coalition for Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday gathered at the Abuja residence of former President Goodluck Jonathan, urging him to contest the 2027 presidential election.The gathering disrupted traffic in the area as the youths chanted slogans, danced to music, and displayed placards appealing to the former president to return to active politics.
Some of the placards read, “GEJ: Nigeria is dying, save it!” “GEJ, Nigerian youths break the medicine wey dem do you.” “GEJ, if you no run, we quench.”Tom Ohikere, national president of the coalition and former commissioner for information in Kogi state, led the march.
Ohikere said the coalition had carried out consultations across the country before staging the demonstration.“Everywhere that we have visited in the course of our nationwide consultation over a period of six months, the clamour for his return to power to rescue our country has been loud and unmistakable,” he said.
He said the group believes Jonathan remains a unifying figure capable of addressing Nigeria’s current challenges.The demonstrators waited for more than three hours, hoping to meet the former president, but he did not appear.Ohikere said the group would return to meet Jonathan again until there is a positive response from him.
The former president reportedly arrived at the residence, located on Taraba Close, Maitama district, around 1pm after the demonstrators had left.The protest adds to growing calls from groups within Nigeria and the diaspora urging Jonathan to return to active politics.Several organisations have made similar appeals over the past year.
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