Jonathan Reveals Buhari’s Biggest Mistake After Winning 2015 Election

Former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, has revealed what he described as the major mistake President Muhammadu Buhari made after defeating him to win the 2015 presidential election.

The revelation is contained in Jonathan’s new book titled ‘My Transition Hours’ which has been the topic of discussion in the media since its public presentation on Tuesday at the Transcorp Hotel in Abuja.

In the book, the former president suggested that the major mistake the current administration of President Buhari made after winning the 2015 poll was to embark on a “persecution spree and vengeance mission” instead of building on the momentum it gained from Nigerians in the run up to the election.

Jonathan said it was due to this that the country slipped into recession in 2016, resulting to a “self-inflicted injury” on the administration of President Buhari.

“Rather than forge a coalition and build on the momentum gathered when they (the APC) eventually took office, they went on a persecution spree and vengeance mission. That the country slipped into recession soon after we left office was a self-inflicted injury caused by misplaced priorities. The narrative of inheriting empty treasury is a blatant lie,” the former president wrote.

“It also amounts to standing facts on their heads to continuously claim that recession was caused by so-called mindless looting. The truth is that the opposition, in a bid to undo our government, became its own undoing when it got to power, because of the burden of justifying deliberate misrepresentations.

“Even after winning the election and forming the government at the centre, the blame game continued. When two brothers fight to death, it is the neighbour that inherits their father’s wealth. And we have seen neighbouring nations like the Republic of Benin and Ghana reaping from the capital flight out of Nigeria.”

Jonathan also said his cabinet was made up of a lot competent hands who have gone ahead to occupy relevant international positions after he left office.

“Just consider that my minister of state for health, Dr. Muhammed Ali Pate, is now a professor at America’s Duke University, as well as a Senior Adviser to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation based in Washington DC. My minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, is now the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

“My Co-ordinating minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, is the chairperson of the Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the African Risk Capacity (ARC). She also sits on the board of Twitter and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, just as she is a Senior Adviser at Lazard and a Director at Standard Chartered Plc in the United Kingdom, amongst others.

“My minister of communication technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, is currently chairperson of custodian and Allied Insurance Limited as well as the Global Alliance for Affordable Internet.

“Ms. Arunma Oteh, who I appointed the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Under her steady and skilful direction, Nigeria’s equity market grew in metric proportions, and by the time I left office in 2015, the market had tripled in size to $150 billion in value. Two months after I left office, Ms. Oteh was appointed a Vice-President and Treasurer at the World Bank.

“With such personalities on my cabinet, no one can factually say we were ‘clueless’ or inept. The evidence of performance is simply overwhelming. We gave Nigeria an impressive and steady GDP growth rate at 6.7 per cent per annum,” Jonathan wrote.