Ndume praises Jonathan, says Nigerians don’t value what they have until they lose it

The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, at the weekend lauded former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying that he left a landmark in Nigeria.

Ndume, an All Progressives Congress (APC) senator, spoke at the launch of a wellness centre in Abuja, where he also said that Nigerians “don’t value what they have until they lose that thing.”

President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 defeated Jonathan, who was the incumbent president then, Ndume was among Nigerians who criticised the former leader and insisted he must be voted out.

But at the event Ndume said, “I must confess, as people call me a stubborn person, I’m also a stubborn person. I feel I need to make this testimony here, and also appreciate Mr (former) President, as they say you will never know what you have until you lose it. I will stop there.

“For this country, I think Nigerians know that they don’t value what they have until they lose that thing. We thank God for your life and you have changed the political culture and landscape of this country.

READ ALSO: Jonathan working for Buhari’s govt —APC

“You don’t know how great you are in the eyes of those that were skeptical, those that don’t know you, those that didn’t come close to you. But now, honestly, I am one of those that used to criticize you very well, but I will say it was constructive move.

“He wanted to be president but Nigeria being what it is, it was a different thing entirely. Like I said, he left a landmark on this country.”

Ndume was thrown into Kuje prison and remanded there last week Monday after Abdulrasheed Maina, a former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), whom he stood as surety for, jumped bail.

However, on the fifth day of his incarceration, being Friday, November 27, the senator was granted bail.

There has been an unusual rapport between Jonathan and APC leaders recently. Some governors of the party even paid him a visit.

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