By JUMI RHODES
 

Former president Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has said he is willing to work President Muhammadu Buhari should he be called upon. Jonathan made this known during the world press conference he held yesterday at the Geneva Press Club in Switzerland. Jonathan spoke on corruption allegations against his government. Below are answers to some of the questions he took from international journalists who were at the world press conference Excerpts:

 

WORKING WITH BUHARI
I am a former president. I can not throw myself to the government. It depends on the assignment the president will give me. If my preseident gives me any assignment,I will do it. Just like when I was in office, we gave assignments to former heads of states. So I am free to work for the president, and indeed for any African president that wants to give me assignment.

 
ON DIEZANI, KOLA ALUKO…
I have an idea of quite a number of things you are raising. While some are isolated cases, they are all linked up. I would not want to make strong statements in my country that are not allowed. While as a president if I really worked hard to ensure separation of powers, and independence of the judiciary, I will not as a former president now reverse the gear.

 ON MISSING BILLIONS
I have said some of the figures they are mentioning, they have not even mentioned all. Sometimes they are a bit careful, they would not say all these monies they are claiming got lost in the 5 years that Jonathan was the president. Some people think I have been the president of Nigeria from independence. They don’t know I was president for just 5 years.They said we lost up to 150 billion dollars in foreign lands. We could not have lost 150 billion dollars in the 5 years I was president. Nigeria would have collapsed if that happened.

ON LAI MOHAMMED’S ALLEGATION OF 15 CORRUPT EX-GOVERNORS
As for the Information Minister(Lai Muhammed), you quoted, I was not president in 2006 but in 2010.He said about 15 former governors of states were corrupt. I believe for the Minister of Information to say that, he must name the 15 governors. I also believe the list must be with our security network. The truth will still come out.These figures that are being mentioned I don’t want to go into them. Let the security and court sort out these issues. At the appropriate time I will speak. But the figures are quite alarming.

 
NEGOTIATION WITH FAKE BOKO HARAM NEGOTIATORS
We did not negotiate with Boko Haram. The government never set up a negotiation team.People do all sorts of things in the name of politics with very serious national issues. The group we negotiated with was the militants in the Niger Delta and we came up with the Amnesty Programme because they had identity. If we had negotiated with Boko Haram, we would have come up with a programme.

 
WHY HE DIDN’T HEAD TO TRIBUNAL
Human beings are designed for different things, by evolution or by creation. We are very religious in Nigeria. One thing I believe is that I did not go into politics because of what I stand to benefit. I also believe it takes the sacrifice of individuals to build a society. So as African leaders,we must be ready to set standards that others can emulate.In Nigeria it is worrisome that anybody who does not win an election will go to the tribunal. So I felt that tradition must also change.At any particular time, leaders must be ready to make sacrifices for their people.


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