Politics
I can never contest as Nigeria’s president again – Fmr. president Jonathan
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said he will never contest for the Presidency of the country again.
This is coming amid claims of his returning to power,
The former President said he would be diminishing himself by opting to pick a form and start lobbying people and campaigning for elections again.
Jonathan said this in an interview published in a book, ‘My Time As Chaplain In Aso Rock,” presented to the public on Tuesday.
The book written by Nathaniel Bivan contains the accounts of the Chaplain of the Aso Rock Villa Chapel during the Jonathan administration, Obioma Onwuzurumba.
The book was presented to the public on Tuesday.
But, commenting on the group that purchased the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential nomination form for N100 million, Jonathan said he enjoyed the drama because he can never become President again.
A group, the Nomadic Pastoralists and Almajirai community had purchased the N100 million APC nomination forms for Jonathan ahead of the party’s primary election.
Jonathan said, “I was enjoying the drama. At least they are not insulting me. After all, I was pursued out of the office that I was not good enough. So, if now, Nigerians are saying, ‘Oh, this man should come,’ that means they are cleaning me up. So, let me enjoy the drama.
“If you wake up tomorrow and see that I’m President again, that means there may have been circumstances beyond my control. But not to go and pick one form and go and start lobbying people and running for campaigns, be it PDP power or APC broom and moving across Nigeria. I can’t do that again; if I do that, I will diminish myself.”
He added that the only roles acceptable to him now involve stabilising democracy in troubled African states.
He added, “Assuming there’s some confusion, and sometimes things like that happen in countries. So, they tell me to come and play a role in stabilising things; a stable democracy where one leader hands over to another is what we all want.
“Let us go through that process and not interrupt the democratic processes. We pray such things should not happen. Otherwise, to go and say I’m contesting on the platform of any party at all. No!”
Jonathan on APC Muslim-Muslim ticket
Jonathan argued that the APC’s same-faith ticket would eventually lead to a lapse in the representation of Nigeria’s religious diversity.
He said, “When I took over as the vice president, the tradition then was that if the President were a Christian, the Vice would be a Muslim and vice versa. We have religious festivals in Nigeria and, of course, National Day, where there will be Jummah prayers and Christian prayers.
“Nigerians are religious people, this is why I get worried about the issues of Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket. Yes, Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian can run the state. But I always ask, ‘who will represent this other bloc whenever we come to the national days that we celebrate?”