My cabinet members were afraid of what Buhari would do to them after I lost – Goodluck Jonathan

Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan says members of his cabinet were scared that the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari was going to jail them when he won election in 2015.

He said some of his ministers and senior officials even felt he would run away, but he stayed in the country.

Jonathan stated this during an interview on Arise TV on Monday, May 29, 2023.

“In my own time especially in the 2015 elections, my ministers, my senior officers, people who worked with me; there was this fear that having lost the election, what would be our fate?

Would the new government just throw all of us into jail without giving a fair hearing? Because government is next to the court and can decide to do anything,” he said.

The former president said the “tense atmosphere” his team faced during the transition period in 2015 was not faced by the outgone government of Buhari.

Speaking further on why he conceded defeat to Buhari, he said; “By this time, I already conceded defeat. And I knew why I conceded defeat, because I was more interested in the country than myself.”

Jonathan said it was important for politicians to be more interested in the country than themselves, saying without the country, there would be no president.