‘Ex-president lost because he was surrounded by mediocres,’ Mantu says

Mantu also said that the process by which Jonathan emerged as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also led to his failure.

He made the comments during an interview with Premium Times.

“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 said.

“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.

“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.

“People were already tired of PDP. PDP was suffering from hangover, fatigue. Sixteen years in power uninterrupted is not easy in a country like Nigeria. Then, PDP became over drunk with power. We were staggering. We missed our road. We were no longer respecting the people. Virtually everywhere, APC votes came from PDP members, who were angry with the party,” he added.

Jonathan conceded defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, after losing the March 28 elections by more than 2 million votes.

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