Former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, has refuted claims that he has been appointed to lead a Southwest consultation team for former President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The claim, published by a national daily (not TVC News), alleged that Mimiko was tapped to spearhead regional consultations as part of a potential presidential comeback bid by Jonathan, with the recommendation reportedly coming from former Osun State Governor and African Democratic Congress (ADC) National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola.

Though Jonathan has not declared any intention to run in 2027, whispers of a possible return to the political arena have persisted, fueling speculation across political circles.

In a statement issued Monday through his spokesperson, Eniola Akinsola, Mimiko dismissed the report as outright fabrication.

“The falsehood in the report is obvious from the get-go. It is just the work of a journalist flying with concocted rumour dressed as news,” the statement read.

Akinsola emphasised that the former governor has neither been contacted nor given any role in a campaign that, at this stage, remains speculative.

“The Mimiko that I know respects former President Jonathan but has neither been reached nor appointed for a campaign that is still the subject, and may well end as a subject of fanciful speculation. I am sure he is also not job-hunting,” he added.

The statement also cautioned that as the 2027 elections draw nearer, politically motivated fabrications targeting low-profile political figures like Mimiko are likely to surface.

Read Also

It noted that Mimiko has intentionally remained out of the spotlight in recent times, despite persistent attempts to drag him into unverified political manoeuvrings.

The rumour comes just days after former Minister of Information and PDP stalwart, Prof. Jerry Gana, publicly stated that Jonathan would indeed run in 2027.

READ ALSO: 2027 Polls: Presidency Welcomes Jonathan To Presidential Race

“I can confirm that Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will contest the presidential election in 2027 as PDP candidate, and we should be prepared to vote for him to return as president again,” Gana declared.

But the comment triggered swift backlash from the presidency.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga dismissed the assertion as speculative and politically opportunistic.

“However, we should caution former president Jonathan to be wary of the PDP sugar-coated cheerleaders. Politicians of Jerry Gana’s ilk merely want to lure him into the race to satisfy their personal, political, religious, and ethnic interests. They will abandon him midstream, as they did in 2015, and leave Gentleman Jonathan in the lurch,” Onanuga warned.

So far, Jonathan himself has remained silent on the matter, neither confirming nor denying the growing chatter about a potential 2027 bid.