Former President Goodluck Jonathan, has said he has been tagged ‘corrupt’ by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government since he left Office in 2015,
The former President who made this disclosure at the presentation of a book entitled: “Dear President Goodluck Jonathan””, written in his honour by Bonaventure Melah, a Journalist, stated that he could have been killed politically, “if not by the grace of God”.
He maintained that his Ministers have continued to suffer under this administration.
His words: “That is the problem myself and some members of my cabinet are still suffering, since the beginning of this administration, when we were all tagged corrupt people.
“But I thank God that people can come together to celebrate me today. It is God. Otherwise, I would have been completely buried (politically).
”When my close Political Allies advised me to sacrifice Arunma Oteh, (the DG of Nigeria Exchange and Security Commission), so that I do not have problems with the House of Representatives, I said I will not sacrifice any Nigerian just for me to be in the good books of the Lawmakers. Rather, I would sacrifice myself. I took that decision, because I was convinced she was not corrupt.
“If I had sacked her undeservedly, that may have been the end of her career with the World Bank.”
He went on to debunk the allegation that the former Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Azubuike Ihejirika, was sacked, because of the pressure from some Northerners.
He stated: “If somebody is doing the right thing, even if you want to split my head, I would not sack the person.
“My interest was to change the society through education. No matter what we do to elevate Nigeria, without education, society would find it difficult to change. That was my personal view.
“That was also why I intervened in the Almajirai case. We needed to elevate them above that level, because of the many social problems they were causing.
“I strongly believe that if there must be a change in Nigeria, we must be competent scientifically and technologically, because technology rules the world today.”
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