Former Deputy Senate President and a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ibrahim Mantu, has said ex-President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 elections because he was surrounded by mediocres and amateurs.
“Jonathan lost because he refused to work with people who know the game. Most of the people Jonathan worked with were mediocres and amateurs. At a point in time, he even left the party machinery and employed some consultants to work for him,” Mantu told Premium Times in an interview.
“When I sat down as an elder, I sent memos to Jonathan himself. Some of us were seen as prophets of doom. Because we gave good advice, they sidelined me. They didn’t want to see some of us.
“I am not a soothsayer but I know what can happen in a party in which I am a member. I told people we were wasting our time. Many people disagreed. They thought it would be business as usual. I could see clearly that the God of justice would not allow it to happen. When you play God, God will tell you ‘I am power and I give it to anybody I wish’.”
According to Mantu, many groups deceived the former President that they could mobilise votes for him, noting that many claimed they could mobilise as many as 75 million voters for him in the elections.
“There are many of them; they came to Eagle Square and said they have 75 million signatures. Where were the 75 million people when we were voting? Politics is a grassroots game. When you don’t use your structure at the grassroots, you will lose.
“How many people watch television? Those that have don’t have light. So, when you say you are using television to campaign, you are wasting your time. Campaign is at the grassroots level.”