Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revisited the betrayals he faced during his unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2015, describing Nigeria’s political culture as plagued by dishonesty and inconsistency.
Speaking on Thursday, September 4, 2025, at the 70th birthday celebration of former Edo State deputy governor, Mike Oghiadomhe, in Benin City, Jonathan said his former Chief of Staff remained one of his few loyal allies.
“Politics in the Nigerian standard is about betrayals. I witnessed a lot of betrayal during the 2015 election,” the former president said.
He described Oghiadomhe, who served as his Chief of Staff between 2010 and 2014, as “one of the few friends I have who can give out their neck for me.
He is one person who would take a bullet on my behalf. For me, he is somebody whose word you can take to the bank. Most politicians, you cannot take their word to the bank.”
Jonathan also decried what he called the inconsistency of many politicians.
“You’ll find it difficult to see somebody who will say the same thing in the morning and say the same thing in the afternoon and in the evening. They will tell you something this minute and, the next hour, they’ll say another,” he said.
