Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Friday recounted the experience of losing the 2015 presidential election, saying “it was a tough moment in my political life.”

Jonathan made the statement in Abuja at the 1st Raymond Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture organised by the management of Daar Communications Plc in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).

The former president admitted that he was emotional when he learned the outcome of the polls, stressing that it felt as if the whole world was against him.

Jonathan, who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled 12,853,162 million votes to place second behind his main challenger, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who won the election with 15,424,921 million votes.

He also recounted the fatherly role the founding chairman of Daar Communications, Aleho Chief Raymond Dokpesi, played before he officially handed over to Buhari.

He said, “It is not easy to lose an election as a president. You will think the whole world is against you. 

“But then, Dokpesi invited me before I handed over. I remember what he said to me when I lost the election.

“There were so many senior Nigerians (elder statesmen) who spoke. 

“After listening to all the conversations, he congratulated me and encouraged me to look beyond the election. This was how I commemorated that session.

“That communication gave me hope and helped me not necessarily for the transition hour ahead of me, but also in my spiritual life as a private citizen. If you read my book, My Transition Hours, I explained it more elaborately.”

Earlier, in his remarks, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed Malaga, paid glowing tributes to the late Dokpesi and enjoined Nigerians to cherish the freedom of speech they currently enjoy.

He said, “Our respect for freedom of speech is sacrosanct even as we continue to urge responsibility in the exercise of this freedom. Nigerians are free to speak about this dear country of ours.

“What we can and will continue to do is to avoid getting to the point where reckless negativity becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

“We will be making a grievous error individually and collectively if we choose to focus only on what is not working and not balance it with equal attention to the things we are getting right.

“And we are getting a lot of things right as a nation even in our present circumstances.

“The media has an important role to play in strengthening this balanced approach through your reportage as shepherds and drivers of public opinions.

“The late Dokpesì has played his part, and he did it in a way that he would never be forgotten.”