Obama Interfered in My 2015 Election Defeat — Goodluck Jonathan Alleges in New Book

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has accused ex-US President Barack Obama of playing a covert role in his defeat during the 2015 presidential election.

Jonathan made the claim in his new memoir, My Transition Hours, which is set to be officially launched on Tuesday. The former leader said Obama’s actions ahead of the 2015 polls showed an “unusual level of bias,” describing the American president’s tone as “overbearing” and “condescending.”

According to Jonathan, Obama’s public address to Nigerians days before the election was a clear attempt to influence voters against him.

“On March 23, 2015, President Obama himself took the unusual step of releasing a video message directly to Nigerians — all but telling them how to vote,” Jonathan wrote.

“In that video, Obama urged Nigerians to open the ‘next chapter’ by their votes. Those who understood subliminal language deciphered that he was prodding the electorate to vote for the opposition.”

Jonathan said he found the message insulting to Nigerians’ intelligence, arguing that it implied they were incapable of deciding their own future without Western direction.

“The message was so condescending, it was as if Nigerians did not know what to do and needed an Obama to direct them,” he added.

Jonathan also criticised Obama for what he described as hypocrisy — insisting that while the US president called for peaceful elections, he simultaneously discouraged Nigeria’s military from reclaiming territories seized by Boko Haram in the North East.

He argued that the international pressure to proceed with elections while parts of the country were under insurgent control endangered national stability.

“Obama said Nigerians must vote without intimidation, yet he was reluctant to allow our forces drive Boko Haram out of occupied territories to free our citizens before the elections,” Jonathan wrote.

The former president did not spare then-US Secretary of State John Kerry, accusing him of dismissing Nigeria’s security concerns and misjudging the government’s decision to briefly postpone the elections.

“How can the US Secretary of State know what is more important for Nigeria than Nigeria’s own government?” Jonathan asked. “How could they have expected us to conduct elections when Boko Haram controlled part of the North East and were killing and maiming Nigerians?”

He maintained that despite foreign pressure, his administration had no intention of extending its tenure.

“Not even the assurance of the sanctity of the May 29, 2015 handover date could calm them down,” he wrote. “In Nigeria, the Constitution is very clear — no President can extend his tenure by one day.”

Jonathan lost the 2015 election to the late Muhammadu Buhari — marking the first time in Nigeria’s history that an incumbent president lost re-election.