Oyegun: Jonathan looked monumental corruption in the face and turned away

John Oyegun, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says former President Goodluck Jonathan was aware of the corruption in his administration but chose to ignore it.

Oyegun said this an interview with Osasu Igbinedion on the sidelines of the launch of Bolaji Abdullahi’s book, ‘On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan Won and Lost Nigeria’.

According to him, Jonathan’s refusal to fight corruption was one of the factors that cost him the 2015 election.

Asked if President Muhammadu Buhari had a good chance of winning the 2019 election in the event that he declares his intention, and given the fact that he has sacked some members of his cabinet on alleged cases of corruption, Oyegun said it was good that Buhari was at least fighting the corruption in his administration.

“Isn’t that good?” Oyegun asked.

“If Jonathan had done that, may he not have been in power today?

“Of course, he did not, and we just saw that today in the launch of that book that he looked at monumental corruption in the face and turned away. In our case, the opposite is the truth.

“There will always be corruption and he is fighting it vigorously. There is only one thing about that man- he must be sure that you are guilty. That takes a bit of time.

“He must be sure that when he inflicts punishment, he can go to bed at night and sleep quitly and peacefully. That he does but at the end of the day, he does it.

“And you can see that those who joined the APC, erroneously thinking that maybe that will give them protection; that does not happen. A lot of them are in the court today. There is no question at all. The noise that we hear is that corruption is fighting back, quite naturally.

“We have perhaps not done enough to satisfy everybody. And there is the basic fact that the resources are leaner today. The oil market collapsed.

“The challenges were more but in spite of those challenges, look at the great infrastructural works that are currently underway to prepare the foundation.”

He further denied speculations that he will step down as the chairman of the APC in 2018, while explaining that his term is over.

“My term is over. I have a four year term. And I have the option of seeking a renewal of my mandate,” he said.