Former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has relived the circumstances surrounding how President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to his main opponent, Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election.
The decision, which has since been hailed locally and internationally, prevented crisis that could have engulfed the nation like the June 12, 1993 saga.
She said that Jonathan alone deserved the credit for his action because many people tried to talk him out of his decision but he stood firm.
Okonjo-Iweala revealed this in an interview with The Sun surrounding her new book: Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines.
She said of Jonathan’s decision to concede defeat before the final results were released: “I am giving him credit. He had already made up his mind. We were there trying to whisper to him and talk to him but the man had decided that this is what he wanted to do. So he is the only one that deserves credit and I said that very clearly in my book. When he went to go and call Buhari and tell him congratulations we were all sitting there we didn’t even know when he left. We were still trying to persuade him but he deserves the credit himself, he had decided that was the right thing to do so he deserves the credit, not me, not anyone else.“
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