In Case You Missed It: Notable Things GEJ Said During His 8th Presidential Media Chat

The Nigerian president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, just concluded a LIVE broadcast of his 8th presidential media chat session where he gave answers to pressing issues regarding the state of the nation.

Here are some notable points the president made during the interview session:

• On Elections: Election postponement according to INEC was necessitated by the present security of the nation.
• I did not decide the date for election. INEC solely announced the dates and decided to postpone
• If elections are held in Lagos, about 62% of intending voters wont be able to vote due to unavailability of PVC
• A lot of people are using the rescheduling of election to confuse and mislead the public – GEJ
• He says he’s confident INEC is presently constituted to conduct free and fair elections
• Let me reassure Nigerians that elections will be conducted in this country and a govt will be inaugurated on May 29th
• My commitment is that every Nigerian must vote in this elections
• Do not be disturbed by stories that are not real. Stories that the President will send INEC Chairman on leave
• I appointed everyone at INEC so I’m confident in them
• The youths and the women constitutes more than 80% of the voting population in Nigeria

• There will be a swearing-in of a “new president” on May 29th 2015 (he said “New” president will be sworn in)
• If I lose the election, I will relinquish power. I never said I would hold on to power as claimed on social media
• The May 29 handover will be sacrosanct
• It is not quite right for anybody to want to contest an election and not be willing to take the outcome

• On Chibok Girls: “Is it by carrying flags and protesting around the world that will #BringBackOurGirls?”
• Use your international connections to help the country, instead of instigating protests. #BePatriotic
• A lot of people are playing politics with issues like the “CHIBOK GIRLS”. This is terrible and very unfortunate.
• With the support of Chad and Cameroon, the story of “CHIBOK GIRLS” will soon be an issue of the past
• I do not want to quote a date for the release of the Chibok Girls. The alliance with our neighbours bring hope
• On corruption: “Ole should be called ole. Don’t use corruption to cover so many things”
• A man who steals is a thief and should not be called corrupt.  A thief should be punished duly in accordance with the law. A thief is not worthy of any other classification
• I didn’t say stealing is good, I only said stealing isn’t corruption

• On Boko Haram: When I visited one of the most dangerous militant camps in the country while i was Vice President, I didn’t carry any weapons. But you can’t do that with Boko Haram
• We were able to negotiate with militants because we could see them. But Boko Haram is faceless. We don’t know who we’re dealing with
• Boko Haram are faceless. Niger Delta Boys had a face and were fighting for a reason
• On social media: I don’t have the time for social media. If you were in my position, you will not have time for the media
• Most of the stories flying around are not credible. A distorted information as NO information at all
• If I Win A 2nd Term I Will Be Careful About My Aides
• Why he attends churches and not mosques for campaigns: He said he does not receive invitations from Muslims

• The 21 Billion Naira they said I raised for election did you see the cash? The N21 Billion was meant for building PDP Secretariat
• The cost of campaigning for election is regulated by INEC. The 21bn raised are mere pledges, “Did you see the cash?”
• How does he intend to win the support of his lost allies? “There is no permanent friend/enemy in life. It is natural to gain and lose support from allies. It is not an issue”
• Can he assess Buhari? “I cannot. It will not be proper. The insult that I have to carry is enormous”
• I don’t have the time to know most things that are happening to be able to assess Buhari