Former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, has shed more light on his decision to concede defeat to erstwhile president, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2015.
Jonathan disclosed that he made the concession because he did not want to plunge the country into crisis as he was more interested in having a peaceful and stable country than anything.
The former governor of Bayelsa state made the disclosure in an interview with Arise TV on Monday.
Jonathan said, “By this time, I already conceded defeat. And I knew why I conceded defeat, because I was more interested in the country than myself.”
Jonathan asserted that it was highly imperative for political office holders to be more interested in the country than themselves, saying without the country, there would be no president.
According to him, despite the transition of the electoral process from manual to electronic, there were still challenges.
He warned that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must sit up or else it would plunge the country into crisis someday.
When asked how Nigeria could come out of electoral controversy through reforms, he said, “The problem we have is INEC and security. And I used to give an example; if two soccer teams are playing and the referee decides to look the other way, they will injure themselves.
“And you must not allow it. The electoral management body shares more than 60 per cent of the blame. If they do their work well, the politicians will have no choice but to follow the rules – they, the security and the courts.”
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