Olusegun Ariyo
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, has urged former President Goodluck Jonathan to be cautious as he weighs calls to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking on Wednesday at the Democracy Dialogue of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Ghana, Kukah praised Jonathan’s 2015 conceding of defeat as a defining moment for Nigeria’s democracy, describing it as an act of sacrifice and honour.
He noted that Jonathan had the power and resources to resist the outcome of the election but instead chose peace, a decision Kukah said restored hope in democratic governance.
However, the cleric cautioned the former president to tread carefully in considering a political comeback.
Quoting former Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma, Kukah said: “The voice of the devil is not so far from the voice of God. Listen very carefully to those who want to use you as an instrument for the elongation of their interests, and not your interests or the interests of Nigeria.”
He urged Jonathan to reflect deeply, pray, and make a decision guided by conscience and the national interest.
He said: “I therefore want to end by saying, first of all, it’s a great honour, President Jonathan, for me to be here. When you took that decision on March 31, 2015, he wrote a little book, which you should read: ‘My Transition Hours’. When you took that decision, it was one of those moments that it was between yourself, your conscience, and our God against the run of play. O the 31st of March, 2015, even before the elections had concluded, when you made that call, you were answering what to me was more or less a divine call.
“And by taking that decision, not only did you reverse, and I think your successor made the point himself over and over that you had all the military, you had all the paraphernalia of power around you.
“It would have been possible to instigate a war, but by taking that decision, in my view, the people of Athens entrusted into your hands, a touch of hope, a touch of what democracy should look like, the honour, the dignity, the sense of sacrifice, that is what democracy is all about.
“You illustrated that, and it’s the reason why when you call, I will come; when you knock, I will open the door. Because right now I had to excuse myself from a meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, which is still on. Our meeting is finishing, actually, on Sunday, but I had to excuse myself to be here because I thought it was a great honour for me, you know, to be with you.
“But please, General Theophilus Danjuma, one of our greatest statesmen, President Obasanjo’s colleague, once said very often, the voice of the devil is not so far from the voice of God.
“Listen very carefully to those who want to use you as an instrument for the elongation of their interests, and not your interests or the interests of Nigeria. Think very clearly. Pray very clearly. Final decision, it’s your call.”
