Former President Goodluck Jonathan denied yesterday being put under pressure by some of his ministers before he conceded defeat in the 2015 election.
In a statement signed by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, Dr. Jonathan said: “Our attention has been drawn to a story in the Nation newspaper of Wednesday November 21, 2018 titled ‘Jonathan: I was pressed to reject 2015 election result’ which erroneously claimed that some identified former aides and ministers of ex-President Jonathan advised him “not to accept defeat.”
“The story which was said to have emanated from former President Jonathan’s new book ‘My Transition Hours’ mentioned the then Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister Mohammed Bello Adoke; Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka, as those whose advice was rebuffed by Jonathan.
“This is obviously a gross misrepresentation of what was stated in the book which one wouldn’t ordinarily expect to read in a credible paper like The Nation.
“Although we see The Nation as a well respected paper, we also recognise that even credible organisations with the best of intentions sometimes lower their guard and, sadly, drop the ball. We believe this is what may have happened in this case, as there is no justification for the obvious twisting of the facts that were clearly stated in the book.
“President Jonathan had maintained that he never consulted anybody over the decision to call and congratulate his opponent while the results of the 2015 Presidential election was still being tallied. Whereas the decision to concede defeat was one he took without any compelling, the former President is however grateful to those who were with him at that moment and many other Nigerians that shared in his conviction to put across the historic phone call.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the following sentence lifted from the book represented how Jonathan narrated his engagement with the mentioned key appointees of the former President at that critical time in the nation’s political history: “They were recommending sundry alternatives, but I was quiet in the midst of their discussion.” However, this was how The Nation chose to report the narrative: “Okonjo-Iweala, Adoke, Chidoka, Dudafa advised me not to accept defeat”.
“It therefore beggars belief that the phrase ‘sundry alternatives’ could be interpreted to mean that the former President was advised by the identified personalities ‘not to accept defeat.’
“We always say that the society will be better served if journalists keep their interpretative reporting within the limits of credible and constructive imagination.”
My Chibok schoolgirls’ story, by ex-president
The Chibok girls happened under my watch. As President, the buck stopped at my table and I must take responsibility. However, for the Federal Government to succeed, the cooperation from the state government is paramount but we did not get that from Borno State. How would the state have rejected the request from the Federal Government to relocate the students?
“At a point, the entire campaign of the opposition was riding on the girls. I thought these people could even pray that the girls stayed wherever they were until they were through with their scheming. It was however not surprising that some leaders of the #bringbackourgitls movement were rewarded with promotions and appointments shortly after the general elections. In fact. Hadiza Bala Usman, one of the co-founders of the #bringbackourgirls Movement was appointed the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority in July, 2016.”