On Wednesday, former president Goodluck Jonathan claimed he was against serving as vice president of Nigeria in 2007.
He claimed that he nearly sobbed when he was named Nigeria’s second-ranking citizen and added that he had no idea he would eventually hold such a powerful position.
On visiting Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri on Wednesday to offer his condolences following the passing of the governor’s father at Sampou Village in the state’s Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area, Jonathan made the announcement.
“As a leader in the country who had the privilege of serving at the state level and national level, I can only advise that politics is not about that you must be there. If God wants you to be there, you will be there.
“If it is not yet your turn to be there, you will not be there. When I became a vice president I almost cried, I never wanted to, but that was my destiny and I had to move.
“So, I advise people who are interested in these offices and their supporters to conduct themselves very well. They want to serve us, not to serve themselves.
“I always tell people that if you are so ambitious, then go into business. If you want to be in the state assembly and people don’t want you, fine, go and sleep. You want to be a governor and people don’t want you, to go and sleep or do business.
“But if you want to serve us as people then you must be humble and you will not kill us before you serve us. So, people must conduct themselves peacefully and if God wants them to win their elections, they will win their elections,” Jonathan said.
When Jonathan was Governor of Bayelsa State in 2007, the late President Musa Yar’Adua chose the former president as his running mate.
The election was won by the team representing the Peoples Democratic Party, which was in power at the time. Until Yar’Adua’s passing, Jonathan held the vice president position for three years.
He then took over as Nigeria’s president and finished their term. He ran for office in 2011 and won, extending his term to four years.
Yet in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress defeated Jonathan in his attempt for reelection.
