By Kolawole Ojebisi
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Friday, recounted the experience of losing the 2015 presidential election, saying it was a tough moment in his political life.
The ex-president admitted that he felt the whole world was against him when he was plumbing the depths of defeat.
He made the confession in Abuja, on Friday, at the 1st Raymond Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture, organised by the management of Daar Communications in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.
The former president, however, revealed how the words of encouragement from elders In the party lifted his spirits and strengthened his resolve to take the defeat in his strides without bitterness. Jonathan named the late Chairman of Daar Communications, Raymond Dokpesi, as one of the elderstatemen of the party who made accepting defeat easier for him.
“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 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 explained it more elaborately.” Jonathan said while beaming with smiles.
Jonathan, who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), was defeated in the 2015 election by the All Progressives Congress candidate(APC), Muhammadu Buhari.
The former military dictator polled 15,424,921 votes, relegating the ex-president, who garnered only 12,853,162 votes, to second place.
The election marked the first time an incumbent president had lost re-election in Nigeria.
Jonathan’s defeat also marked the end of the sixteen-year reign of the PDP as the ruling party at the Federal level.
Dokpesi passed away on May 29, 2023. According to DAAR Communications Group Managing Director, Tony Akiotu, he had been ill for a few weeks before his death.
Akiotu added that the former marine engineer fell off his treadmill during a routine gym exercise.
