A loss by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in general elections next month may be viewed “positively” by foreign investors and probably won’t rattle markets, according to Jim O’Neill, former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

While Jonathan, 57, has presided over the sale of the nation’s mismanaged power utilities to private investors, his economic policies in the last four years “could have been better,” O’Neill said in a Jan. 7 interview in the capital, Abuja. Firing central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi last year, who brought “a lot of credibility” to the government, sent out a negative signal, he said.

“If he doesn’t get re-elected, and it’s because of Nigerian people wanting something different and something better, I think the markets would be happy with that,” said O’Neill. “Foreign investors are pretty negative about Nigeria, so I don’t dismiss the possibility that if he lost people actually might react positively.”

O’Neill ranks Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, alongside Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey in his MINT group. The countries have four of the largest emerging-market populations outside the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, an acronym he coined at Goldman.


Photographer: Sabine Albers/Bloomberg
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan faces a fierce battle to win a Feb. 14 vote... Read More
Jonathan, a southern Christian, faces former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, 72, a Muslim northerner and candidate of the opposition All Progressive Congress in the Feb. 14 vote. The ruling People’s Democratic Party, which has won every contest since army rule ended in 1999, faces its stiffest challenge against the APC, a merger of Nigeria’s biggest opposition parties. Africa’s most populous nation of more than 170 million people is split between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

Tough Stance

It isn’t clear what a Buhari victory would mean for investors because he hasn’t set out an economic policy, O’Neill said.

“People would be a bit worried,” said O’Neill, who is also a Bloomberg View columnist. “But it depends on what would happen with the institutional framework and policies.”

Buhari, characterized by supporters as having a tough stance against corruption, came to power in a 1983 army coup and ruled for 20 months before he was unseated by a rival military faction. Buhari lost the 2011 presidential vote to Jonathan and failed to win in 2007 and 2003 elections.

Buhari is now seeking to tap discontent with Jonathan’s inability to stem attacks by Boko Haram, an Islamist insurgent group that has killed 13,000 in the north since 2009, according to the government.

‘Structural Changes’

The status of Africa’s largest economy as a prime frontier-market investment destination has been dented by oil prices that have fallen 52 percent over the past year, rising insurgency attacks in the country’s northeast and increasing political tensions ahead of next month’s elections.

Jonathan also removed central bank Governor Sanusi in February last year after Sanusi alleged the state oil company hadn’t remitted about $20 billion in revenue to the government. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. denied the allegations. Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in May auditors would take three to four months to clarify what had happened to the unaccounted oil receipts that stood at $10.8 billion.

With crude accounting for about 70 percent of government funding and 95 percent of foreign exchange, lower prices have reduced revenue and increased pressure on the naira, which the central bank devalued in November. The naira has fallen 10 percent in the past three months, the second worst performer out of 24 African currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

The lower oil price “exposes the lack of needed structural changes, that hopefully would still come,” O’Neill said. “Nigeria, like any country, shouldn’t be so dependent on the commodity cycle.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-08/o-neill-says-jonathan-vote-loss-may-be-seen-as-nigeria-positive.html

In a nutshell he is clamouring for change(TEAMBUHARI&OSINBAJO).

Rubbish!!!
The man is even a former chairman

Waiting for the Jonathanians to counter this tomorrow...
BTW it's not like the man really cares about Nigeria.

Goddex:
Rubbish!!!
The man is even a former chairman

A former chairman of a global and reputable firm!! How do you even think? I need to carry a scientific study on your species!

Okk

GEJ till 2019
Buhari and anti corruption do not go hand in hand

cocoduck:
GEJ till 2019
Buhari and anti corruption do not go hand in hand

GMB 2015!
Jonathan is corruption and corruption is Jonathan.

at it stand buhari will not win the election.


it is already an election won by jonathan,

babadee1:


GMB 2015!
Buhari is corruption and corruption is Buhari.

fixed

yuio33:
at it stand buhari will not win the election.


it is already an election won by jonathan,

they think we are joking

ayukdaboss:

Do you want to go to Jail?? - Godswill Akpabio (2015)

what do you mean?

cocoduck:

GMB 2015!
Buhari is corruption and corruption is Buhari.

cocoduck:

fixed

You are fooling yourself. There is no living person who has ever ruled Nigeria whose hands are as clean as Buhari. You know it and I know it. Keep on supporting a thief, I will support a person of integrity. If in future your children ask you why did you vote to allow Jonathan to continue I hope you will be able to answer them with a clear conscience.

I see GEJ ruling GMB once again, taking his spot and leaving y'all stranded with ur brooms
#GEJ till 2019

babadee1:




You are fooling yourself. There is no living person who has ever ruled Nigeria whose hands are as clean as Buhari. You know it and I know it. Keep on supporting a thief, I will support a person of integrity. If in future your children ask you why did you vote to allow Jonathan to continue I hope you will be able to answer them with a clear conscience.

A whopping $2.3billion, you say his hand are clean, you are very wicked and hypocritical, he said and still maintains that Abacha was not corrupt,if that is so, why or what is the source of all the Abacha LOOT? Then even if his hand is the cleanest which means that it is also somehow dirty.

braine:


A former chairman of a global and reputable firm!! How do you even think? I need to carry a scientific study on your species!

TANoids don't know anyone, except GEJ

Don't mind him.

cocoduck:

A whopping $2.3billion, you say his hand are clean, you are very wicked and hypocritical, he said and still maintains that Abacha was not corrupt,if that is so, why or what is the source of all the Abacha LOOT? Then even if his hand is the cleanest which means that it is also somehow dirty.

Which $2.3 billion? Has anybody even insinuated that money went into Buhari's pocket? Please don't make me laugh with your feeble attempts to defend the most corrupt government in the history of Nigeria. If Buhari said Abacha wasn't corrupt it's because the facts that we all know now were not available to him at the time. What about the person who said that stealing is not corruption? Was that Buhari too? Would you like to do a side by side comparison of accusations of corruption under Buhari versus under Jonathan?

babadee1:




You are fooling yourself. There is no living person who has ever ruled Nigeria whose hands are as clean as Buhari. You know it and I know it. Keep on supporting a thief, I will support a person of integrity. If in future your children ask you why did you vote to allow Jonathan to continue I hope you will be able to answer them with a clear conscience.

You're suffering from self delusion. I'm sure Buhari's new right hand men like the 'incorruptible' Atiku, Tinubu and Ikimi, will put your head right. Olodo.

ROSSIKE:


You're suffering from self delusion. I'm sure Buhari's new right hand men like the 'incorruptible' Atiku, Tinubu and Ikimi, will put your head right. Olodo.

I don't respond to insults. Arguments with insults are already self defeating. Good day.

Rubbish


This Jim o Neil is an idiot

Jonathan will remain...he made Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and its think tank members like Jimmy boy that dont want Nigeria to progress this rapidly

Jimmy started BRICS and N 11 countries but he never knew Nigeria will make BRIC, BRINC under Jonathan

Jo boy, carry go

Offcourse, Investors confidence will rise in a less corrupt nation. Nigeria's population favourably places it for high invesment, local and foreign, but it is punching below its weight at the moment

babadee1:


Which $2.3 billion? Has anybody even insinuated that money went into Buhari's pocket? Please don't make me laugh with your feeble attempts to defend the most corrupt government in the history of Nigeria. If Buhari said Abacha wasn't corrupt it's because the facts that we all know now were not available to him at the time. What about the person who said that stealing is not corruption? Was that Buhari too? Would you like to do a side by side comparison of accusations of corruption under Buhari versus under Jonathan?

Shut up if you have nothing meaningful to say, $2.3billion went missing under Buhari's watch, AND HE STILL MAINTAINS THAT ABACHA IS NOT CORRUPT. GEJ is not a saint, so you projecting a morally dirty old man to me as a saint, is tantamount to insulting my intelligence.

I like this old [url=cramjones]troll[/url]

cocoduck:

Shut up if you have nothing meaningful to say, $2.3billion went missing under Buhari's watch, AND HE STILL MAINTAINS THAT ABACHA IS NOT CORRUPT. GEJ is not a saint, so you projecting a morally dirty old man to me as a saint, is tantamount to insulting my intelligence.

Compared to your GEJ, Buhari is a saint. I'm done arguing with you, vote for whoever you want.

Because he no sought you out abi.

emiye:
Offcourse, Investors confidence will rise in a less corrupt nation. Nigeria's population favourably places it for high invesment, local and foreign, but it is punching below its weight at the moment

Now outline in clear terms how Buhari intends to fight corruption

If Buhari fought corruption in the past .... how come we still have corruption with us.

Where are the incorruptible judges, courts and law enforcement agents that will aid the jailing of corrupt Nigerians?

How can he probe his stinkingly corrupt closet friends like Atiku, Tinubu and Amaechi whose loots can be traced to his campaign funds?

The permanent fight against corruption is creating the right institutions and systems to make corruption impossible like GEJ has done with the e-wallet system for fertiliser scam, biometric register for ghost workers, pension reforms for pension scam etc

How many jails can accommodate corrupt Nigerians. ... we would have to borrow more jails as an average Nigerian is corrupt. To what end is jailing effective? How much has it worked in the past?

I still wonder how any sane Nigerian will vote a proud fundamentalist who openely condemned Nigerian army for fighting Bokoharam
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/buhari-military-offensive-against-boko-haram-anti-north/149256/

Simply put... Buhari has been rejected thrice and he remains an enemy of Nigeria.

babadee1:


Compared to your GEJ, Buhari is a saint. I'm done arguing with you, vote for whoever you want.

he is a saint in the septic tank.

His opinion, which is worthless anyways.

Flets:


Now outline in clear terms how Buhari intends to fight corruption

Buhari will not fight corruption by just throwing fists in the air aimlessly, if you listen to him carefully, his planned priority will be corruption in the oil sector, ranging from The petrol subsidy scam, kerosene subsidy scam, NNPC shady transactions and lack of probity, crude oil theft of over 400,000 barrels/day, e.t,c

A comprehensive audit , and full and prompt implementation of the report
The subsidy scam is a means to feed some cabals who have hoodwinked the govt of the day, the moment the current govt loses out, they will be like a tadple that loses its host, the body language of the current govt will send a message to govt officials, especially when they know there would be consequence for corruption. Even a child behaves differently around his/her parents depending on the body language of the father or mother.

.

Global financial institutions already know who GEJ is and view his losing the election next month as a positive thing? I give up on any argument about GEJ.
Sai Buhari

I assure you, it will only be negative to the cabal stealing our money. gej winning will be a big disappointment to people.

I pray against that everyday