There’s plot to discredit me –Jonathan


Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said some individuals are making frantic efforts to malign his personality.

He said this on Sunday night, in a Facebook post.

“It has been brought to my attention that while I am away promoting democracy in Sierra Leone, a campaign will be unleashed against me to falsely impugn my name using both faceless and identified persons.

“When I was in power, I said my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Even out of power, I continue to hold that belief. What I will say, however, is that no matter how far and fast falsehood has travelled, it must eventually be overtaken by truth,” the former president wrote.

Jonathan is due to go back to Sierra Leone, to lead supervision of the second-round of voting in the country’s presidential elections, after the first-round failed to produce a clear winner.

The former president is the head of election observers in Sierra Leone, which was devastated by Ebola virus a few years ago.

It was not immediately clear why Jonathan decided to issue the disclaimer on Sunday but lately, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo alleged Jonathan received over N150 billion for election purposes in 2015.

At the weekend, reports also indicated that N100 billion was moved, directly, to Jonathan’s home, from the Central Bank of Nigeria, also, for the 2015 elections.   

Also, last week, there were reports that someone close to him allegedly attempted to manipulate the 2015 elections with a $2 million slush payment to a foreign public relations firms, to hack details of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate then, Muhammadu Buhari. The Guardian of the United Kingdom said the individual, whose identity remained unclear, met with Cambridge Analytica officials in Washington D.C., in the United States of America around December 2014, a few weeks before the contentious 2015 presidential election which Jonathan lost to Buhari.

Recently, the president said he handled the kidnap of 110 Dapchi schoolgirls far better than Jonathan, accusing his predecessor of being “insensitive” to the plight of 276 Chibok girls, after they were kidnapped by Boko Haram, under his watch on April 14, 2014.

A few days later, Buhari’s deputy, Osinbajo accused the former president of squandering funds that should have gone into major infrastructure projects.

Jonathan is yet to respond to The Guardian’s article or allegations from Buhari’s administration. The former president has said he would remain civil in his conduct.