Goodluck Jonathan, a former President of Nigeria has finally opened up on how he felt after losing the 2015 Presidential election as an incumbent president.
According to the ex-president, when the election results were announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) he was emotional and felt as though the whole world was against him.
Jonathan made the revelation in Abuja at the 1st Raymond Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture, organised by the management of Daar Communications in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.
Speaking further, he also noted that it was one of the toughest seasons in his career as a politician.
He said, “It is not easy to lose an election as a president. You will think the whole world is against you.”
The former president also recounted how the late Daar Communications founder was a source of strength to him in his down times, saying, “But then, Dokpesi invited me before I handed over. I remember what he said to me when I lost the election. There were so many senior Nigerians (elder statesmen) who spoke. After I listened to all the conversations, he congratulated me and encouraged me to look beyond the election. This is how I commemorated that session.
“That communication gave me hope and helped me not necessarily for the transition hour ahead of me but also in my spiritual life as a private citizen. If you read my book, My Transition Hours, I explain it more elaborately.”
News About Nigeria recalls that Jonathan, who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was defeated in the 2015 election by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
In the election, Buhari scored a total of 15,424,921 votes; Goodluck got only 12,853,162 votes, clinching second place.
The election marked the first time an incumbent president had lost re-election in Nigeria.
