Former President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that politics in Nigeria is characterized by betrayal and unreliability, a lesson he said he learned firsthand during his 2015 re-election campaign.
Jonathan made the remarks on Thursday in Benin, the Edo State capital, while speaking at the 70th birthday celebration of his former Chief of Staff, Mike Aiyegbeni Oghiadomhe. The former president said that while many politicians are not dependable, Oghiadomhe is an exception, someone he can always count on.
“Politics in the Nigerian standard is about betrayals,” Jonathan said. “I have witnessed a lot of betrayal during the 2015 election.”
He lamented the lack of consistency among many political figures. “You’ll find it difficult to see somebody who will say the same thing in the morning and say the same thing in the afternoon and in the evening,” he stated. “They will tell you something this minute and the next one hour, they’ll say another. But, I am quite pleased to associate with Oghiadomhe. He is one person who will take a bullet on my behalf.”
Jonathan further praised his former aide, who served as Chief of Staff from 2010 to 2014, as a man of his word. “For me, he is somebody that you can take his words to the bank. Most politicians, you cannot take their words to the bank,” he said.
The event was attended by numerous dignitaries, including Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Prof (Mrs) Izia Ize-Iyamu, ex-Governor Lucky Igbinedion, ex-Governor Oserheimen Osunbor, ex-Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, Chief Tom Ikimi, and Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), among others.
