Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the founder of DAAR Communications, late Chief Raymond Dokpesi, was the first person that made him believe that there could still be life after losing an election.
Made Me Believe That There Could Still Be Life After Losing An Election - Jonathan
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the founder of DAAR Communications, late Chief Raymond Dokpesi, was the first person that made him believe that there could still be life after losing an election.
Jonathan, had in April 2015, conceded the presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the winner of the exercise.
Raymond Dokpesi, the founder of DAAR Communications, died on 29th of May after a fall while using a treadmill machine, a statement by DAAR Communications has said.
However, the ex-President while speaking at the Night of Tributes organised by the deceased family on Monday said that the deceased encouraged him after he lost the presidential election in 2015.
He said, “I was in a dilemma after I lost the election where some of the people you think instead of you to die, they will prefer to take the bullet for you but surprisingly, they even forgot your name when you lose the election.
“To my surprise I was told that Dokpesi would host me for an event. I was surprised that how will he do that for a person that lost election. He was the first person that made me believe that there could still be life after losing an election.
“Initially I was skeptical, but I said let us go. I thought it was going to be a small gathering of his friends and family but the place was filled up. So the words of encouragement from Dokpesi and all the other people that spoke gave me that energy to do what I am doing today.
“Nigeria was to host the World Cup and, of course, we love soccer very much. When the memo got to the president, he was not too comfortable with the financial involvement and so on. So, he felt we can’t spend such kind of money and turned it down.”
“Fortunately, Dokpesi came to my house as the vice president and made his presentation to me that convinced me that Nigeria can host the Cup. The following morning, I went to take it up with the president and he agreed that we should host it. So if not for the person, we would not have host it,” he added.