Human rights lawyer and political activist Deji Adeyanju has claimed that former President Goodluck Jonathan is the only southern politician capable of defeating President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
In a post on social media platform X, Adeyanju said, “GEJ is the only southern candidate that can defeat Tinubu but I don’t think he will run against Tinubu.”
Although Jonathan has not expressed interest in contesting again, Adeyanju argued that the former president is not constitutionally barred from running for another four-year term. He insisted that Nigerian laws do not allow the creation of rules aimed at stopping any specific individual.
Adeyanju also criticised Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, accusing him of using religion to gain votes. He said Obi relied heavily on support from churches to secure over six million votes in the last election.
“This was how the church secured 6 million votes for Obi in 2023. We will not be alive and watch you religious bigots rewrite history,” Adeyanju wrote.
He added that, unlike Obi, Tinubu and his running mate did not go from mosque to mosque campaigning during the elections, despite running on a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Adeyanju said Obi’s strategy will not work again in 2027, and warned against using religion as a political tool in Nigeria’s multi-religious society.
His comments have sparked fresh debate online about the role of religion in Nigerian politics and the possibility of a strong southern challenger to President Tinubu in the next general elections.