Former President Goodluck Jonathan has claimed that the erstwhile president of the United States, Barack Obama, displayed an unusual level of bias during the 2015 elections.
Speaking via his new book due to launch on Tuesday, he alleged that Obama plotted his defeat in 2015.
According to Jonathan, the former US president was overbearing and ‘condescending’ in his message to Nigerians ahead of the 2015 general election.
In excerpts of the book obtained by Premium Times, Jonathan said, “On March 23, 2015, President Obama himself took the unusual step of releasing a video message directly to Nigerians, all but telling them how to vote.
“In that video, Obama urged Nigerians to open the ‘next chapter’ with their votes.
“Those who understood subliminal language deciphered that he was prodding the electorate to vote for the opposition to form a new government.
“The message was so condescending, it was as if Nigerians did not know what to do and needed an Obama to direct them.”
He lampooned Obama, who was the American president from 2009 until 2017, for saying all Nigerians must be able to cast their votes without intimidation or fear, but was reluctant to allow the Nigerian security forces to drive Boko Haram insurgents away from the Nigerian territories they had been occupying in order to free Nigerian citizens there ahead of elections.
Jonathan also took a harsh aim at former US Secretary of State John Kerry, saying the diplomat was nonchalant in his attitude towards his government, despite all efforts to make him understand that the decision to postpone the election was in the overall interest of Nigeria.
“How can the U.S. Secretary of State know what is more important for Nigeria than Nigeria’s own government? How could they have expected us to conduct elections when Boko Haram controlled part of the North East and was killing and maiming Nigerians?
“Not even the assurance of the sanctity of May 29, 2015 handover date could calm them down. In Nigeria, the Constitution is very clear: No President can extend his tenure by one day,” he said.
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