By Kingston Magare
As former President Goodluck Jonathan refuses to rule himself out of the 2027 presidential election contest, President Bola Tinubu’s special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanugu said Jonathan is a welcomed distraction.
Speaking Monday in a statement Mr. Onanugu said Nigerians have not forgotten the poor records of Mr. Jonathan while he was in office.
“President Jonathan reserves the right to run if he wishes. It is his inalienable right to contest the presidency again.
“But Jonathan will have his date in the court of the land…and will also have his encounter with the people as to whether he has anything new to offer after his disastrous six years, for which they voted him out in 2015.”
Jonathan has so far refused to deny or confirm his participation in the 2027 contest, but a former ally Prof Jerry Gana insisted that Jonathan who was on the saddle for six years between 2010 to 2015 will contest on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party.
“We cannot forget in a hurry how his regime, devoid of any clear economic agenda, engaged in frivolous spending, ran the economy aground and put the country in dire straits,” Onanuga added.
Onanuga noted that Jonathan inherited $66bn in 2010, $46bn in reserves and $20bn in the Excess Crude Account, but left less than $30bn in reserves and only $2bn in the ECA by 2015, despite oil prices averaging $100 a barrel.
“It is on record that between 2010 and 2013, crude oil sold for an average of $100 per barrel. By December 2014, however, the Jonathan-led Federal Government could no longer pay salaries to Federal Civil Servants. At least 28 states across the country owed workers huge salary arrears.
“Jonathan and his National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), freely distributed security funds to friends and cronies.”
To be or not to be...Goodluck Jonathan at crossroads