Former Nigeria president, Goodluck Joanthan has claimed that former Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who defected to the then opposition All Progressive Congress (APC), because they were “blinded by ambition” and a barrage of “fake news”, cost him his bid to be re-elected for a second term in office.
Jonathan made the claim in a book about his tenure in office titled: “My Transition Hours” which was launched on Tuesday.
The ex-president lost the election to incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari, with just over 2.5 million votes.
He also blamed northern leaders who wanted power returned to their region for sabotaging his reelection bid.
“This time around, there were governors who were rounding off their eight years tenure and were blinded by ambition.
“Some governors wanted to be Vice President whilst others strived to be the President. If I contested none could realise his ambition. This muffled implosion would fully manifest in the buildup to the 2015, which each ship-jumper calculating how much he or she would take from the PDP or the most opportune moment to cause maximum damage and based on that, plot their exit.
“As they jumped ship in preparation for the 2015 elections, only very few of this lots, if any at all, bothered about what the PDP did or did not do in terms of delivering our campaign promises. Their opposition to my re-election was principally driven by personal ambition. They therefore played up the issue of where I come from and the faith, I professed to fuel their burning ambition. My performance mattered quite little, if it mattered at all,” Jonathan wrote.
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