Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday while speaking at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos during the flag-off of his presidential campaign, and reacting to the endorsement of his opponent, Muhammadu Buhari, by the militant group lead by Henry Okah, said that Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) wanted to assassinate him in the October 1, 2010 bombing at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
The attack claimed twelve lives and injured seventeen others.
Accusing the opposition of orchestrating a campaign of calumny against him, particularly on social media, he said his administration had improved the lot of Nigerians in many regards.
“I saw a headline in one of the newspapers, saying MEND dumps Jonathan, did you see it?” he asked.
“The leader of MEND is Henry Okah, Okah is in prison in South Africa, not even in Nigeria, where they could have said I influenced it. He is in prison because he wanted to assassinate me by bombing Eagle Square.
The intelligence service got the information and I was driven into the Eagle Square in a hurry. “Now he is endorsing some people, is that the kind of country you want? Do you want Nigeria to go backward or forward?” Jonathan, who said his message was meant for first-time voters, added that he intended using his campaign to respond to criticisms of his government by the opposition in the areas of insecurity, corruption and weak government.
“My message is for young people, because 2015 election is for the young people,” he said. “This country belongs to you. Those people who say they want to take over power from the PDP have told a lot of lies. First, let me tell you about voter cards. Only yesterday, I directed INEC to make sure that all Nigerians get their voter cards.
“Before 2011, people were just voting themselves into office, there was nothing like voter cards. And I also want to advise the young people here, particularly the first-time voters, you must vote wisely. “It is either you vote for freedom or you vote otherwise. Some people want to take Nigeria backward, is that what you want? Do you want to go back to the era when there was no freedom, when your uncles were being jailed anyhow?” he asked.
“Some people believe that the only way to fight corruption is to get people arrested and show them on television. So immediately I suspect your uncle, I would just pick him up and throw him into Kirikiri. Is that how to fight corruption? Is that what you want? “They built prisons for you, but I built you schools. They say they want to jail all their enemies and lock them up, but me, I have no enemies to fight because my interest is your interest and your interest my interest.”
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