Goodluck Jonathan and electoral reforms as focuses of his administration. He stated that he came to office under "very sad and unusual circumstances". On 18 May 2010, the National Assembly approved Jonathan's nomination of former Kaduna State governor, Namadi Sambo, for the position of Vice-President. On 15 September 2010, Jonathan announced on Facebook that he had decided to run for public office on his own for the first time, in the race for the presidency of Nigeria in 2011. In the contest for the Peoples Democratic Party nomination, Goodluck Jonathan was up against the former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and Mrs. Sarah Jubril.
Goodluck Jonathan among them were pro-Abiola advocates and parties involved with the university. Some critics cited that the President did not submit an appropriate bill to the legislature for the change; that the University's brand name should not be tampered with. The UNILAG Alumni Association commented that although they do not have prejudice against MKO Abiola, they were concerned "that neither the Governing Council nor the University Senate nor any other stakeholder was consulted before the change was announced." Bola Tinubu congratulated Jonathan for taking action, but urged him to "do it right", adding that "we must be careful not to localise