Nine years after, former President Goodluck Jonathan has reminisced on the 2015 election, saying he felt pain losing the election.
He said, “It is not easy to lose an election as a president. You will think the whole world is against you. But then, Dokpesi invited me before I handed it over. I remember what he said to me when I lost the election.”
The former President stated this in Abuja during the first Raymond Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture organised by the management of Daar Communications in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations
He said his experience of losing the 2015 presidential election was a tough moment in his political life.
Jonathan also recalled the fatherly role the chairman of Daar Communications, Raymond Dokpesi, played before he officially handed over to former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, was defeated by Buhari, whose platform was the All Progressives Congress.
Referring to the late Dokpesi, Jonathan said “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 explained it more elaborately.”
The Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, told Nigerians not to abuse the freedom of speech they are enjoying.
“Our respect for freedom of speech is sacrosanct even as we continue to urge responsibility in the exercise of this freedom. Nigerians are free to speak about this dear country of ours. What we can and will continue to do is to avoid getting to the point where reckless negativity becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts,” Mohammed stated