Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan described losing the 2015 presidential election as one of the most challenging moments of his political career, likening it to feeling as though the entire world was against him.
Jonathan shared these reflections during the inaugural Raymond Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture held in Abuja on Friday.
Running as the candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he lost to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), with Buhari securing 15,424,921 votes to Jonathan’s 12,853,162.
This defeat marked a historic first: an incumbent Nigerian president losing a re-election bid.
Jonathan said: “It is not easy to lose an election as president. You will think the whole world is against you. But then, Dokpesi invited me before I handed over. I remember what he said to me when I lost the election.
“There were so many senior Nigerians who spoke. After I listened to all the conversations, he congratulated me and encouraged me to look beyond the election. This is how I commemorated that session.
“That communication gave me hope and helped me not necessarily for the transition hour ahead of me but also in my spiritual life as a private citizen. If you read my book, My Transition Hours, I explain it more elaborately.”
