Former President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Sunday, amid growing political activity ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Jonathan was said to have arrived at the State House and held private discussions with the President. However, neither the Presidency nor the former President’s office issued an official statement on the purpose or outcome of the meeting.

The visit has attracted political attention because it came amid controversy over reports linking Jonathan to the presidential ticket of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party led by Kabiru Turaki.

The faction had claimed that it manually submitted Jonathan’s name and those of its other candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission after allegedly being denied access to the commission’s electronic nomination portal.

INEC, however, rejected the faction’s position, explaining that political parties are required to submit the particulars of their candidates through its designated electronic platform.

The commission said manual submission does not comply with the established nomination procedure, raising questions over the validity of the faction’s purported submission.

INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Ita-Messi, said she could not confirm whether the faction had delivered any physical list to the commission but maintained that candidate nominations must follow the approved digital process.

The reported meeting between Jonathan and Tinubu is expected to intensify speculation about possible political consultations and realignments ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Jonathan, who governed Nigeria from 2010 to 2015, has not publicly confirmed that he will contest the election or formally responded to claims that the Turaki-led PDP faction submitted his name as its presidential candidate.

Until an official explanation is provided, the agenda of his private discussion with President Tinubu remains unknown.