Ima Niboro, former presidential spokesman, has responded to comments made by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, about ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

Responding to Onanuga’s claim of Jonathan’s “dismal” record in office, the former aide said while he respects Onanuga as a senior colleague, he disagrees with the assessment of Jonathan’s tenure.

“Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s presidency was not perfect. No presidency is. None will ever be. But Jonathan’s was far from the caricature of ‘ruin’ and ‘cluelessness’ that Onanuga now paints,” he said in a piece.

He highlighted several achievements of the Jonathan administration, including the growth of Nigeria’s foreign reserves to $42 billion in 2015, the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund, the rebasing of Nigeria’s economy which made it Africa’s largest, reforms in agriculture, and the creation of new universities.

He also pointed to infrastructure projects such as the Abuja–Kaduna railway, the commencement of the Second Niger Bridge, and the modernisation of airports.

“Whether Jonathan runs in 2027 or not, his record remains what it is: the economy’s expansion, agricultural reform, revived rail, modernized airports, new universities, governance innovation, health gains, and deepened democracy. These cannot be erased by the flourish of anyone’s pen. Nigerians lived them. Nigerians remember,” the former spokesman said.

He added that Jonathan’s peaceful concession in 2015 strengthened Nigeria’s democracy and should not be overlooked.

“I respect Bayo Onanuga as a senior colleague and compatriot. But to this statement of his… this premature assault on a man who has not declared for 2027… I respond firmly, respectfully, and unequivocally: No, Sir,” he stated. (Daily Trust)