Ex-President urges Nigerians to believe in the country

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerians to believe in the country to overcome its challenges in his Easter message on Friday, March 30, 2018.

In the message posted on his official Facebook page, Jonathan, who was president between 2010 and 2015, said he expects Nigeria to overcome its challenges as long as Nigerians are united in helping it grow.

He wrote, "Easter is a time when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who died for the sin of the world. In this season where we mark renaissance, I believe and expect Nigeria to rise and overcome her national challenges because our shared experiences are bringing us to the conclusion that no matter what the forces of evil can do, we as Nigerians, united in doing good, can and will prevail.

"I urge all Nigerians, even if we feel that we are not in a position to do much to help Nigeria to overcome, let us at least believe that she will overcome. That is a lot. That is a lot. Happy Easter."

People plotting against me - Jonathan

The former president recently disclosed that there is a plot against him by unknown people to unleash a campaign of lies to damage his reputation.

He took to his Facebook page on Sunday, March 25, 2018, to allege the plot, maintaining that he'll remain resolute and hope that the truth prevails.

"What I will say however, is that no matter how far and fast falsehood has traveled, it must eventually be overtaken by truth," he said.

The former president has recently been in the news most notably for corruption during his tenure and attempted election manipulation during his reelection campaign in 2015.

While speaking on Monday, March 19, 2018, during the 7th presidential quarterly business forum in Abuja, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo accused the Jonathan administration of withdrawing N150billion from the federation account just days before the 2015 election .

He said, "In one single transaction, a few weeks to the 2015 elections, sums of N100billion and $295million were just frittered away by a few."

The former president responded to the allegations through his former aide, Reno Omokri, saying that the Vice President should provide proof.

"On this most recent allegation, let me state categorically that Jonathan did not share N150 billion two weeks to the 2015 election. If Osinbajo has proof that Jonathan did so, then we challenge him to publish his proof," Omokri said.

In new revelations that emerged last week, The Guardian UK revealed that an unnamed Nigerian billionaire paid £2m to a foreign data company called to influence the 2015 presidential election for Jonathan.

Cambridge Analytica staff were flown to Nigeria, Israeli hackers were hired to break into then-opponent Muhammadu Buhari's emails to exhume his financial and medical records. Staff were also handed videos put together to scare voters in Buhari's stronghold of the north.

The Cambridge Analytica team were lodged in a hotel in Abuja a few weeks to the presidential election and worked on a communications campaign for Jonathan.

The Israeli intelligence operatives who worked with Cambridge Analytica during this period claimed that France and Israel wanted Jonathan to win the presidential election.

Even though The Guardian UK reported that Jonathan was most likely unaware of the hiring of Cambridge Analytica, his name has been dragged through the scandal.