Jonathan Says His Administration Witnessed No Nepotism, Detention Of Critics

BEVERLY HILLS, October 31, (THEWILL) – Former President Goodluck Jonathan has averred that Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians, stressing that those in positions of authority must resist the temptation to act in a manner that amounts to pursuit of regional or narrow agenda.

Speaking on Saturday during the Nigerian Lawyers Association's annual dinner and merit awards ceremony held in New York, he said the decisions taken by his administration were guided by the overall interest of the nation and not ethno-religious or personal considerations.

Jonathan, whose comments were tweeted on his Twitter handle @GEJonathan, pointed out that while in power no single Nigerian was sent to prison because of anything they wrote or said about him or the administration.

He spoke on the theme, “Diversity as our Bridge to Tomorrow,” stressing in one of the tweets that, “No matter what my critics said about me, I ensured that there was both freedom of speech and freedom after the speech”.

The other tweets read, “Under my watch, not a single Nigerian was sent to prison because of anything they wrote or said about me or the administration. Nigeria had neither political prisoners nor political exile under my administration. We enacted the Freedom of Information Act and by that we tore the veil of secrecy covering governance.”

In what appeared like a reference to the face-off between security agencies and some judges over allegations of corruption , the ex-president said, “We gave institutions unlimited freedom and ensured that the NBA (Nigerian Bar Association) and other professional institutions were devoid of any government influence, we enacted the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 to promote efficient management of criminal justice institutions in Nigeria.”

While stating that he could not be accused of nepotism because “most of my principal aides in government hailed from different ethnic nationalities,” he added that, “We ensured that appointments into INEC were not based on personal relationships”.

Jonathan went on to call on Nigerians in the Diaspora, particularly those in the United States, U.S, to continue to give support to democratic governance back home.

Story by Ugonnabo Ngwu