Claim: X user asserts that former president Goodluck Jonathan is contesting for the presidency in the forthcoming election.
Verdict: Misleading! There is currently no official declaration from Jonathan confirming his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Full Text
Political conversations ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 election have intensified online, with supporters of different politicians sharing claims.
One such claim circulating on X (archived) shared by ADC Vanguard alleges that former president Goodluck Jonathan is contesting in the upcoming presidential election.
ADC Vanguard shared a 30-second video showing supporters rejoicing and shouting upon seeing the former president.
As of May 7, 2026, the post had garnered 589,300 views, 5,900 likes, 954 comments and 955 reposts and retweets. It was also shared on Facebook here.
The post also gathered conflicting comments and reactions since it was posted.
Africa Update (@EngrDaniel) disagrees with the post, noting,
“He never said he was running; he rather told the crowd that politics is not a computer game, and he did not indicate any interest in running ADC, just chasing the crowd.”
Another user, Corgito (@Shaddai_001), not sure about the claim’s validity, also wrote, “Why does this sound like fake news, please?”
The conflicting reaction to the claim, the personalities involved, and its sensitive nature prompted DUBAWA to fact-check it.
Verification
We conducted a keyword search to see whether reputable media organisations reported the news given the personality involved, but we found nothing.
We ran a reverse image search on fragments of the video and found the longer version on Arise Television’s Instagram page. The video was shared with the headline “Group calls on Jonathan to run for 2027 presidency.”
In the video, Jonathan told youth groups in Abuja that he would consult before making any decision on the 2027 presidential election.
“…You have come today to ask me to run. I have heard you. The presidential race is not a computer game. I will consult widely,” he said.
Other media organisations, such as African Independent Television (AIT), Daily Times, and Galaxy Television, all reported the story.
For a presidential candidate to officially contest in Nigeria, the individual is expected to publicly declare interest, secure a party platform, and eventually be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by a political party.
None of these has happened in Jonathan’s case at the time of writing. Jonathan has also not posted about it on his X and Instagram accounts.
Conclusion
The claim that Goodluck Jonathan is contesting the 2027 presidential election is misleading. While supporters urged him to run during the gathering captured in the video, he has not officially declared his candidacy or been nominated by any political party.