Former President Goodluck
Jonathan has said Atiku Abubakar was right to challenge President Muhammadu
Buhari’s reelection in February, saying it would be “unfair” to compare Mr
Abubakar’s situation to the 2015 election in which he (Mr Jonathan) accepted
defeat.
Mr Jonathan said the fundamentals
of 2015 election, which saw him become Nigeria’s first incumbent leader to
accept election defeat, were “very different” from the 2019 elections.
The 2019 polls were marred by
violence and brazen irregularities.
“It is not right for anybody to
compare Jonathan’s decision in 2015 with Atiku’s position in 2019 because they
are two different scenarios,” Mr Jonathan said in an interview with PremiumTimes.
The magazine, which explored
Nigeria’s pivotal moments between May 1999 and May 2019, is going on sale on
June 12, Nigeria’s new Democracy Day.
Mr Jonathan said it would be
dishonest for anyone to compare his decision to timely concede the 2015
presidential election to Mr Buhari and Mr Abubakar’s lawsuit over the outcome
of the February 23 poll.
The former president said it was
his responsibility to ensure a smooth and credible election was conducted under
him, notwithstanding the independence of the election commission.
“In 2015, I was a sitting
president,” Mr Jonathan said. “Although INEC is an independent body, every
structure of government still operates under the president one way or the
other.”
“So I was a president and INEC
conducted the elections under my watch. Atiku was not a sitting president and
if he or the party feels that things were not done right, of course they are at
liberty to challenge it in court,” Mr Jonathan said.
Mr Jonathan, who described his
presidential tenure as ‘unique’ in Nigeria’s history, also praised his
achievements in office, saying he oversaw an economy that was consistently
growing.
“Nigeria was the number one
destination for foreign direct investment under my tenure. We were rated the
biggest economy in Africa. We transformed the agricultural sector and brought
the nation closer towards food self-sufficiency,” he said.
“Our currency was stable and
inflationary pressure was kept at single digit. We may not have been
comfortable with the exchange rate of less than N200 to the dollar at that time
but I can tell you that the economy was stable.
“The stability we had ensured
that business people and investors could plan because you were sure of the
exchange rate and the cost of your goods at any point in time, whether you were
exporting or importing. Economically you could say that Nigeria was stable and
strong,” Mr Jonathan said.
The former president acknowledged
that there were still many areas that required improvement, but said the
stability he oversaw could have taken Nigeria to a height greater than it had
been since he left office.
The special publication, titled:
Nigeria: 20 Years of Patchy Democracy, is going on sale across Nigeria and
abroad.
It contains the remaining parts
of Mr Jonathan’s insightful interview, alongside similar exclusives with other
leaders like Mr Buhari, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
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