Former
president Goodluck Jonathan says ex-US President Barack Obama meddled in
Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election, Owojela's Blog learnt.
In excerpts
of his book by The Cable, ‘The Transition Hours’, It was revealed that, Jonathan said
Obama sent his secretary of state, John Kerry, and made a video broadcast to
Nigerians in ways designed to influence the outcome of the election against
him.
He described
the actions of Obama as “humiliating”.
Jonathan,
flying the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lost the election to
President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and conceded
while the final results were yet to be announced — a step unprecedented in
Nigeria’s history.
The election
had been moved from February 14 to March 28 in controversial circumstances,
although the Jonathan government maintained that it was because of the security
situation caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east.
In the book,
Jonathan tried to justify the rescheduling of the elections but dismissed
claims that he was trying to elongate his tenure.
‘THIS IS
HYPOCRISY’
He wrote: “I
can recall that President Obama sent his Secretary of State to Nigeria, a
sovereign nation, to protest the rescheduling of the election. John Kerry
arrived in Nigeria on Sunday January 25, 2015 and said ‘it’s imperative that
these elections happen on time as scheduled’.
“How can the
US Secretary of State know what is more important for Nigeria than Nigeria’s
own government? How could they have expected us to conduct elections when Boko
Haram controlled part of the North East and were killing and maiming Nigerians?
Not even the assurance of the sanctity of the May 29, 2015 handover date could
calm them down. In Nigeria, the constitution is very clear. No President can
extend his tenure by one day.
Kerry met
with Jonathan in Lagos after the 2015 general election was postponed
“On March
23, 2015, President Obama himself took the unusual step of releasing a video
message directly to Nigerians all but telling them how to vote. In that video,
Obama urged Nigerians to open the ‘next chapter’ by their votes. Those who
understood subliminal language deciphered that he was prodding the electorate
to vote for the opposition to form a new government. The message was so
condescending, it was as if Nigerians did not know what to do and needed an
Obama to direct them.
“In his
message, he said ‘all Nigerians must be able to cast their votes without
intimidation or fear,’ yet his government was vehemently and publicly against
the postponement of the elections to enable our military defeat Boko Haram and
prevent them from intimidating voters. This was the height of hypocrisy!”
Jonathan
said the foreign pressure on the issue of election rescheduling was intense,
suggesting that “the curious posture” was of one who had been “deceived before
and therefore had every reason to cede no credence to our position. But there
was no reason to have such a posture”.
He revealed
that David Cameron, then the UK prime minister, called to express his concern
about the election rescheduling, “just as John Kerry came from the United
States to express further worry… In fact, John Kerry did not accept our reasons
for the rescheduling”.
The former
president said it was “unbelievable” because “we knew why the agitation was
beyond what meets the eyes. There were deeper political interests”.
“In
attendance at the meeting of the Council of State where the decision to
reschedule the election was taken were almost all the living former Heads of
State of this country. That should have convinced John Kerry of the good
intentions of the government. He cannot claim to love and defend Nigeria more
than all our former heads of state present at the meeting. I have stated
earlier how Kerry’s visit was designed to humiliate a sitting Nigerian
president and clearly take sides in the country’s election,” Jonathan wrote.
Former
president Goodluck Jonathan says ex-US President Barack Obama meddled in
Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election, TheCable can report.
In excerpts
of his book, ‘The Transition Hours’, made available to TheCable, Jonathan said
Obama sent his secretary of state, John Kerry, and made a video broadcast to
Nigerians in ways designed to influence the outcome of the election against
him.
He described
the actions of Obama as “humiliating”.
Jonathan,
flying the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lost the election to
President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and conceded
while the final results were yet to be announced — a step unprecedented in
Nigeria’s history.
The election
had been moved from February 14 to March 28 in controversial circumstances,
although the Jonathan government maintained that it was because of the security
situation caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east.
In the book,
Jonathan tried to justify the rescheduling of the elections but dismissed
claims that he was trying to elongate his tenure.
‘THIS IS
HYPOCRISY’
He wrote: “I
can recall that President Obama sent his Secretary of State to Nigeria, a
sovereign nation, to protest the rescheduling of the election. John Kerry
arrived in Nigeria on Sunday January 25, 2015 and said ‘it’s imperative that
these elections happen on time as scheduled’.
“How can the
US Secretary of State know what is more important for Nigeria than Nigeria’s
own government? How could they have expected us to conduct elections when Boko
Haram controlled part of the North East and were killing and maiming Nigerians?
Not even the assurance of the sanctity of the May 29, 2015 handover date could
calm them down. In Nigeria, the constitution is very clear. No President can
extend his tenure by one day.
Kerry met
with Jonathan in Lagos after the 2015 general election was postponed
“On March
23, 2015, President Obama himself took the unusual step of releasing a video
message directly to Nigerians all but telling them how to vote. In that video,
Obama urged Nigerians to open the ‘next chapter’ by their votes. Those who
understood subliminal language deciphered that he was prodding the electorate
to vote for the opposition to form a new government. The message was so
condescending, it was as if Nigerians did not know what to do and needed an
Obama to direct them.
“In his
message, he said ‘all Nigerians must be able to cast their votes without
intimidation or fear,’ yet his government was vehemently and publicly against
the postponement of the elections to enable our military defeat Boko Haram and
prevent them from intimidating voters. This was the height of hypocrisy!”
Jonathan
said the foreign pressure on the issue of election rescheduling was intense,
suggesting that “the curious posture” was of one who had been “deceived before
and therefore had every reason to cede no credence to our position. But there
was no reason to have such a posture”.
He revealed
that David Cameron, then the UK prime minister, called to express his concern
about the election rescheduling, “just as John Kerry came from the United
States to express further worry… In fact, John Kerry did not accept our reasons
for the rescheduling”.
The former
president said it was “unbelievable” because “we knew why the agitation was
beyond what meets the eyes. There were deeper political interests”.
“In
attendance at the meeting of the Council of State where the decision to
reschedule the election was taken were almost all the living former Heads of
State of this country. That should have convinced John Kerry of the good
intentions of the government. He cannot claim to love and defend Nigeria more
than all our former heads of state present at the meeting. I have stated
earlier how Kerry’s visit was designed to humiliate a sitting Nigerian
president and clearly take sides in the country’s election,” Jonathan wrote.
CableNG
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