Former President Goodluck Jonathan has accused former United States President, Barack Obama, of plotting his defeat in the 2015 presidential election.
He described the American leader as “overbearing” and “condescending” in his message to Nigerians ahead of the polls.
Jonathan, who criticised Obama’s conduct, said the former U.S. president displayed “an unusual level of bias” during the 2015 election by issuing a public appeal which, according to him, all but directed Nigerians on how to vote.
According to Jonathan, “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.”
Detailing the incident in his new book, My Transition Hours, which is to be unveiled on Tuesday, Jonathan continued:
“In that video, Obama urged Nigerians to open the ‘next chapter’ by their votes.
Those who understood subliminal language deciphered that he was prodding the electorate to vote for the opposition to form a new government.”
Premium Times, which obtained a copy of the book ahead of the formal launch, reported that Jonathan had kept the work confidential to prevent excerpts circulating before publication.
Jonathan eventually lost the 2015 election to Muhammadu Buhari, marking the first time an incumbent president would be defeated at the polls.
He had assumed office in 2010 following the death of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and won a full term in 2011.
Ahead of the 2015 election, the vote was postponed for six weeks to March 28, a move which drew both local and international criticism.
Jonathan noted that his opponents claimed he wanted to elongate his stay in power, an accusation he denied, insisting the postponement was based on security challenges linked to Boko Haram’s occupation of parts of the North-East.
Speaking on Obama’s video message, Jonathan said, “The message was so condescending, it was as if Nigerians did not know what to do and needed an Obama to direct them.”
He further accused Obama of publicly insisting that Nigerians must be able to vote freely “without intimidation or fear”, while allegedly being reluctant to allow Nigerian security forces push Boko Haram out of occupied territories before the election.
He also faulted former U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, accusing him of showing disregard for the Nigerian government’s position and failing to acknowledge that postponing the elections was, in his view, necessary for national security.
“How can the U.S. Secretary of State know what is more important for Nigeria than Nigeria’s own government?
“How could we have conducted elections when Boko Haram controlled parts of the North-East and were killing and maiming Nigerians?” Jonathan said.
He insisted that despite pressure, the Nigerian government was committed to handing over power on May 29, 2015, stressing that “No President can extend his tenure by one day under the Nigerian Constitution.”
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.