What’s up with President Goodluck Jonathan nowadays? Is he still a full member of the PDP, loyal to the party, or he is just there waiting for an opportunity to cash in on whatever comes his way?
By George Onmonya Daniel
Goodluck Jonathan, the past president of Nigeria, is seen in many quarters as a gentleman. He is an affable man and likes to play safe even as President. He won the heart of many when he lost election to President Buhari and when people in his cabinet were advising him not to handover, he walked upstairs alone, all by himself, pick up his phone and called Mr. Buhari to congratulate him. President Buhari said he wept when he received the call. People in power just don’t go that easy in Africa.
After he was sworn in as president, an angry Buhari and the people around him were all out for revenge. They used any excuse to clamped down on Goodluck Jonathan’s men. An angry Buhari who claimed he won all the elections he had contested from 2003 was angry with the PDP and anything that has PDP wrapped around it was corruption. President Buhari gave an impression he hated corruption so much and the PDP to him was synonymous to corruption. Not even Goodluck Jonathan was safe from MAGU, Buhari’s anti-corruption Czar, who would later be suspended and sacked for corruption in what looks like an intriguing tale from Hollywood tales.
They first targeted Goodluck’s wife, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, blocked her accounts and all, the case went to court, but nothing came out of it and it looks like nothing will come out of it again since Goodluck Jonathan and his successor have become tight friends today. As usual cases like this, that of accusations of Goodluck Jonathan himself involved in corruption just goes away. Many still opine that Goodluck Jonathan got closed to his successor because of his corruption case, many would disagree with that line of thinking. But the closeness means that everything that would embarrass the past president would be thrown out.
Goodluck Jonathan supported an APC candidate during the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State because he had a disagreement with the former governor. The APC candidate won and APC governors went to congratulate the former president. It was a clear anti-party activity but the PDP looked the other way. Before the election Goodluck Jonathan had visited Buhari and people had it that he visited to seek for some sort of support to make APC win.
Since then the relationship between Goodluck Jonathan and President Buhari improved. Goodluck Jonathan was appointed an ambassador who goes around West African troubled countries to broker peace on behalf of President Buhari. It has gone to the level that some APC members have started campaigning for Goodluck Jonathan to replace Buhari in 2023. Goodluck Jonathan has been quiet over this even though it made headline.
Today one can hardly tell where Goodluck Jonathan really belongs.
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