Former President Goodluck Jonathan has distanced himself from an Instagram post suggesting he is planning a comeback in the 2027 presidential election.
The post, shared by an account bearing Jonathan’s name, criticised Nigeria’s current leaders, claiming they are “pretending to sleep”, while urging citizens to choose 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 an image, believed to be AI-generated, of Jonathan shaking hands with U.S. President Donald Trump. The post has since attracted over 16,000 views and 1,261 comments.
However, when contacted by TheCable on Friday, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan’s spokesperson, dismissed the post as fake and clarified that the former president does not operate an Instagram account.
“Former President Jonathan does not own an Instagram account,” Eze said.
This is not the first time Jonathan has had to disown political activity linked to his name. Ahead of the 2023 elections, he rejected a presidential nomination form purchased on his behalf by a support group. The form, bought under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was disavowed by Jonathan through a statement from his media team.
“He was not aware of this bid and did not authorise it,” the statement read at the time.