Jonathan’s Refusal To Fight Corruption Cost Him 2015 Election – Oyegun

John Oyegun, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 Presidential election because he refused to fight the corruption in his administration.

Oyegun said this an interview with Osasu Igbinedion on the sidelines of the launch of Bolaji Abdullahi’s book, ‘On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan Won and Lost Nigeria’.

He said Jonathan was aware of the monumental corruption in his government but intentionally ignored it.

According to the APC chairman, Jonathan would have been in power today if he had fought corruption, like his predecessor President Muhammadu Buhari is doing.

Mr. Buhari defeated Jonathan by 2.57 million votes in the presidential election in 2015, according to results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

“Isn’t that good?” Oyegun asked.

“If Jonathan had done that, may he not have been in power today?

“Of course, he did not, and we just saw that today in the launch of that book that he looked at monumental corruption in the face and turned away. In our case, the opposite is the truth.

“There will always be corruption and he is fighting it vigorously. There is only one thing about that man- he must be sure that you are guilty. That takes a bit of time.

“He must be sure that when he inflicts punishment, he can go to bed at night and sleep quitly and peacefully. That he does but at the end of the day, he does it.

“And you can see that those who joined the APC, erroneously thinking that maybe that will give them protection; that does not happen. A lot of them are in the court today. There is no question at all. The noise that we hear is that corruption is fighting back, quite naturally.

“We have perhaps not done enough to satisfy everybody. And there is the basic fact that the resources are leaner today. The oil market collapsed.

“The challenges were more but in spite of those challenges, look at the great infrastructural works that are currently underway to prepare the foundation.”

He further denied speculations that he will step down as the chairman of the APC in 2018, while explaining that his term is over.

“My term is over. I have a four-year term. And I have the option of seeking a renewal of my mandate,” he said.