Goodluck Jonathan Recounts Mental Ordeal After Loosing 2015 Presidential Election

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan says he felt like the “whole world was against” him after loosing the 2015 presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari.

After loosing his reelection bid in 2015, then President Jonathan made history by becoming the first sitting Nigerian president to loose a reelection bid.

The interesting part of Jonathan’s defeat was his call to former president Muhammadu Buhari to concede defeat before the announcement by Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Related: Goodluck Jonathan Says Nigerians Chased Him Out of Aso Rock

While speaking at the inaugural edition of the Raymond Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture on Friday, October 25, 2024, in Abuja, Jonathan recalled the mental ordeal he went through and how the late Raymond Dokpesi helped him to pull through.

“It is not easy to lose an election as a president. You will think the whole world is against you,” Jonathan said.

“Dokpesi invited me before I handed over. I remember what he said to me when I lost the election…

“After I listened to all the conversations, he congratulated me and encouraged me to look beyond the election.”

President Jonathan further made public a deeper insight into his transition days by writing a book titled “My Transition Hours.”

Muhammadu Buhari would go on to rule for eight years and plunge Nigeria into its worst economic period before handing over to current president Bola Tinubu, who is also struggling to fix the economy.