Jonathan disowns comments on 2019 polls

Goodluck Jonathan

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan smiles during a press conference at the South African Parliament in Cape Town, on May 7, 2013. The leaders of Africa's two biggest economies, South Africa and Nigeria, pledged closer ties on Tuesday in what was hailed as a milestone in a sometime patchy relationship. President Jacob Zuma rolled out a red carpet for his counterpart Goodluck Jonathan as ministers signed nine sectoral pacts covering oil and gas, power, defence and communication. AFP PHOTO / RODGER BOSCH

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has debunked an online report which claimed that he spoke about 2019 elections in a meeting with his kinsmen in his hometown, Otuoke, Bayelsa State.

A statement issued by Jonathan’s media aide, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, dismissed the claim as lies and added that the former president was neither in his home state on the stated date nor met with his “kinsmen, who paid him an end of year visit,” as claimed in the false report.

“Our attention has just been drawn to a fabricated online publication alleging that former president Goodluck Jonathan made comments on the 2019 elections, while hosting his kinsmen in Otuoke last Tuesday.

“Those reports are false and bear no truth whatsoever. The former president was not in Otuoke on Tuesday, neither did he make the comments attributed to him. In fact, he has only just returned to his community to spend Christmas having been away for two weeks, so he could not have been hosting anyone there last Tuesday.

“Of what good is it to our national development efforts if some people spend so much energy spreading falsehood about fellow citizens and our nation?

“The former president wishes his fellow compatriots a merry Christmas and prosperous New Year in advance, and advises all to always channel their efforts towards working to attain the nation of our collective dreams,” the statement said.

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