The Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry Enugu, Nigeria (AMEN), Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 election because he did not follow advice given to him.
Mbaka claimed that he personally advised Jonathan to remove the then Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, but the former president chose not to act on it.
The cleric made the remarks in a viral video while responding to his earlier comments about insecurity in Nigeria, which he said had political motives.
He had earlier alleged that some politicians were using insecurity as a tool to push for President Bola Tinubu’s removal, similar to what he said happened during Jonathan’s administration.
However, the statement triggered heavy reactions online, with some social media users blaming Mbaka for Jonathan’s defeat in 2015.
In the new video, Mbaka insisted that Jonathan’s loss was not his fault but the result of the former president ignoring divine counsel.
He urged the public to ignore online criticism, stressing that he and Jonathan were once close.
“Don’t listen to what people are saying on social media. Former President Goodluck Jonathan was my friend, but that is a different issue,” he said.
“Jonathan did not fail because of me. He failed because he refused to listen. I told him what to do to win the election, but he ignored it.
“He lost because he did not take the advice of a man of God. I told him to remove Jega because he had already betrayed him, but he refused,” Mbaka added.