Former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has revealed that former President Goodluck Jonathan single-highhandedly called to congratulate Muhammadu Buhari before the conclusion of the 2015 Presidential election without consulting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on which platform he contested the election or federal cabinet members.
In a book she wrote which will soon go public, Okonjo-Iweala said that while members of the federal cabinet who were with President Jonathan were arguing whether to accept the result of the election or not, she leaned towards the president and asked him to concede before the results were completely collated and announced.
She said that Jonathan listened to her whispered words and then spoke loudly in response to the hearing of everyone in the room: “It is done. A few minutes ago, I called to congratulate President-elect Buhari.”
Okonjo-Iweala recalled that on that day, March 31, 2015, when, unknown to all present at the presidential residence in Aso Villa, Jonathan had already contacted Buhari, while various high-level government officials and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bigwigs were discussing whether or not he should concede.
The book is titled: ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines.’
Okonjo-Iweala described it as “a personal account of an important aspect of my work in government – fighting corruption” unwraps her experiences while serving in the Jonathan government. [myad]
