My friends have abandoned me – Jonathan

The reality of life has dawned on out-going President Goodluck Jonathan as he lamented, yesterday, that his so-called friends have deserted him having lost the last presidential election to the opposition All progressives Congress (APC), candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking at a thanksgiving and farewell service in his honour at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Life Camp, Gwarinpa, Abuja, President Jonathan said, however that he expected more of his friends to leave him. The president declared that he was ready to pay the price for his refusal to interfere with the electoral process which he ensured was carried out to its logical conclusion.

He also said his decision to concede defeat at the election did not go down well with some of his ministers and aides and jokingly expressed the hope that his wife, Patience will not follow the example of the wife of former South African Apartheid leader, F W De Klerk, who divorced her husband for his decision to end the minority rule in the Republic of South Africa (RSA).

He then expressed appreciation to Nigeria and Nigerians for giving him the opportunity to serve in various capacities, reiterating his willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice in the interest of the nation.

President Jonathan said: 

“I believe there are reasons for everything. Some hard decisions have their own cost, no doubt about that. I ran the government in such a way that stabilized certain things like the electoral process and other things that brought stability to this country and took very costly decisions which I must be ready to pay for.

“If you take certain decisions, it might be good for the generality of the people but it might affect people differently. So for ministers and aides who served with me, I sympathize with them, they will be persecuted. And they must be ready for that persecution”.

While expressing appreciation for what God has done for him and his family, President Jonathan said he had all the reasons to thank God. 

Vanguard