Former President Jonathan Alleges U.S. Meddling in Nigerian Electoral Process
In a stunning disclosure from his new memoir, ‘My Transition Hours,’ former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has formally accused former U.S. President Barack Obama of orchestrating his defeat in the 2015 presidential election. Jonathan describes the international pressure he faced as “unusual,” “sobering,” and deliberately “condescending.”
The former President pinpointed a specific video message released by President Obama on March 23, 2015, directly addressing the Nigerian electorate. Jonathan asserts that the communication employed subliminal language that “all but told Nigerians how to vote,” explicitly urging them to “open the ‘next chapter'”—a phrase he interprets as a clear endorsement of the opposition and his main challenger, the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan also levied strong criticisms against former U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, for his response to the government’s decision to postpone the elections by six weeks. This delay, justified by the administration due to severe security threats from Boko Haram insurgents who controlled parts of the North-East, was met with intense agitation from Western powers.
“How can the U.S. Secretary of State know what is more important for Nigeria than Nigeria’s own government?” Jonathan questions in the book. He defended the postponement, revealing that the extra six weeks allowed the Nigerian military to receive critical equipment and successfully “repossess all territorial areas previously occupied by the terrorists.”
Despite the presence of nearly all living former Nigerian Heads of State at the Council of State meeting where the rescheduling was decided, Jonathan claims Kerry and other Western leaders remained unconvinced, revealing what he believes were “deeper political interests.”
