Why I can’t contest to be president again — Jonathan

 

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has offered reasons he can no longer vie to be the president of the country.

Jonathan spoke in an interview published in a book: “My Time As Chaplain In Aso Rock,” written by Nathaniel Bivan.

The book, presented to the public on Tuesday in Abuja, contains the accounts of the Chaplain of the Aso Rock Villa Chapel during Jonathan’s administration, Obioma Onwuzurumba.

The former president, who was pestered by some groups to run for the 2023 election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress despite being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, said in the interview: “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.

“I was not disturbed.

“I know I cannot go and start struggling to be President again.

“It wasn’t only Nigerians who were asking me such questions, even most of the top ambassadors – the American ambassador, the UK High Commissioner, France, and all of them.

“They came to ask me whether I would contest.

“I don’t think I would contest any election.

“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.

“Assuming there’s some confusion, and sometimes things like that happen in countries.

“So, they tell me to come and play a role in stabilizing 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!”

On the APC’s same faith ticket, Jonathan 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?”

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