Jonathan: Atiku Has the Right to Challenge Buhari’s Re-Election in Court

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has defended the decision of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election in court, saying the circumstances surrounding the 2019 election were different from those of 2015.

Jonathan said it was inappropriate to compare Atiku’s legal challenge with his own decision to concede defeat to Buhari after the 2015 presidential election.

According to him, he was the incumbent president in 2015 and therefore had a responsibility to ensure that the election conducted under his administration was credible and peaceful.

“It is not right for anybody to compare Jonathan’s decision in 2015 with Atiku’s position in 2019 because they are two different scenarios,” Jonathan said in an interview.

He explained that although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) operates as an independent institution, the election was nevertheless conducted while he was the sitting president.

Jonathan said that because he was in office at the time, he had a particular responsibility for ensuring a smooth electoral process and accepted the result when Buhari was declared winner.

Atiku, on the other hand, was an opposition candidate in 2019 and therefore had every right to seek judicial intervention if he believed the election was not properly conducted, Jonathan argued.

“Atiku is not a sitting president and if he or the party feel that things were not done right, of course, they are at liberty to challenge it in court,” he said.

Jonathan’s comments came amid public comparisons between his concession in 2015 and Atiku’s refusal to accept the official result of the February 23, 2019 presidential election.

INEC declared Buhari winner of the 2019 election, while Atiku and the PDP rejected the outcome and filed a petition before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

Jonathan also reflected on his years in office, describing his administration as unique in Nigeria’s political history and defending its economic record.

He said Nigeria experienced relatively strong economic growth during his administration and became a major destination for foreign direct investment.

Jonathan also pointed to Nigeria’s emergence as Africa’s largest economy following the rebasing of its gross domestic product during his tenure.

He said his administration made progress in agriculture and moved the country closer to food self-sufficiency.

The former president also highlighted what he described as relative stability in the value of the naira and inflation, arguing that businesses were better able to plan because exchange rates were more predictable.

According to Jonathan, although Nigerians might not have been satisfied with an exchange rate of below N200 to the United States dollar at the time, the relative stability provided greater certainty for businesses involved in imports and exports.

He maintained that a stable economic environment allowed investors and entrepreneurs to make longer-term plans and supported economic activity.

Jonathan acknowledged that his administration still had areas in which improvements were needed but argued that the economic stability achieved during his tenure could have provided a foundation for further national development.

He maintained that Atiku’s decision to contest the 2019 election result through the courts should therefore be viewed as a legitimate exercise of his constitutional and democratic rights rather than compared directly with the circumstances surrounding the 2015 presidential election.