Jonathan allays fears of disintegration, says Nigeria will remain after 2023 elections

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday allayed fears of Nigeria’s disintegration, saying the country will still remain.

He stated this during the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)’s Council of the WISE strategic retreat and planning workshop which held in Lagos.

“When elections are coming, there is always this fear that the country will implode. But you see that the country has remained stable,” he said.

“When I was in office, (during) the 2015 elections, some people were sending words out of the country, but nothing happened at the end of the day. So 2023 will come and go and this country will remain.”

The former Nigerian President also expressed confidence in ECOWAS ability to solve the numerous challenges confronting the sub-region.

There has been series of coups in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso and some other West African countries leading to sanctions from the regional bloc as well as the African Union.

But Jonathan, who chairs the forum, reiterated the commission’s determination to restore peace in the troubled countries.

“The tasks ahead of us may seem dauting given the current challenges in our sub-region but it is not insurmountable. I implore all of us to give the assignment her best shot.

“We will be seen to have done justice to this assignment if we succeed in catalysing processes towards institutionalizing systems that will deepen democracy, people-oriented governance and sustainable growths in our sub-region.”

This is the first-ever non-state structure that forms part of the council’s peace and security architecture with Jonathan expressing confidence that the region can surmount its challenges.