■ We won’t join issues, PDP replies
President Goodluck Jonathan has been described as a bad loser who would rather continue to seek pub¬lic sympathy than asking for forgiveness from Nigeri¬ans who rejected him at the March 28 presidential elec¬tion for bad governance.
This was the consensus of some All Progressives Con¬gress, APC leaders who were reacting to President Jona-than’s claim on Thursday that the President-elect, Gen. Mu¬hammadu Buhari did not win the last election fairly.
Jonathan, who spoke short¬ly after receiving the report of the Senator Ahmadu Ali-led PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation at the Presiden¬tial Villa, Abuja, said himself and his party had to accept the outcome of the poll as a sacrifice to keep the country together.
According to him “The problem is not whether we lost the elections; that is histo¬ry, but how do we consolidate our party and move forward? If we are committed and we work hard, definitely the PDP will bounce back.
“The PDP is still the domi¬nant party. If you look at the results, the difference is just 2.5 million votes and if you look at the areas, where it is perceived that the PDP scored so low, the PDP couldn’t have got those kind of scores but the elections are over, so the country first.
“It is not as if Jonathan alone made the sacrifice, it is all of us. I made the pronouncement but some of us are paying the price. Some people pay more price than I do, I know how some of you are already be¬ing persecuted and the kind of situation facing you.”
Reacting to the president’s claim, APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Moham¬med said President Jonathan’s recent statements and actions only portray him as a bad loser who is finding it difficult to recover from the shock of de¬feat.
He condemned the contin¬ued blackmail by the Jonathan administration as a result of President Jonathan’s conces¬sion of defeat, wondering whether the concession, gra¬cious as it was, has now be¬come a shield for all wrong doings.
‘’We are sick and tired of being blackmailed by the Jonathanians. Gen. Buhari won the March 28 Presiden¬tial Elections fair and square, having satisfied both constitu¬tional and other statutory re¬quirements. We have no apol¬ogy for our victory, and the concession of defeat – while it may have increased the po¬litical stock of President Jona¬than, the election has by no means diminished the historic and emphatic victory of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress,’’ he added.
Also reacting to the presi¬dent’s statement, APC chief¬tain Senator JKN Waku said Jonathan was only crying foul where there was none, adding that “he was defeated by Bu¬hari fair and square.”
According to the Benue born politician, “why did Jonathan rush to accept defeat if he knew that Buhari didn’t have a clear victory? The fact that he conceded defeat early has shot up his public image, but his recent statements are only confirming to the world that he is not the person he was trying to convince the world he is. His claim is shocking. Obviously, he acted contrary to the dictate of his mind, the real him. He should stop being a cry cry loser.”
Also in the fray, National Vice Chairman of APC (North-east), Engr. David Lawal in a chat with Saturday Sunyester¬day, wondered why President Jonathan would cry foul after he publicly conceded defeat. He declared that contrary to President Jonathan’s claims, results from South-south and South-east were inflated to fa¬vour the PDP.
“The man was roundly defeated. People are prais¬ing him for conceding defeat. What was he supposed to do? He was defeated in an election and what he did was not extra-ordinary. He did not have any option, but to accept the out¬come of the elections. There is no big deal in the fact that Goodluck Jonathan accepted defeat. Nigeria is a funny country,” he said.
Casting doubt on President Jonathan’s new ‘gentleman’ status, the APC chief called on Nigerians to be cautious in celebrating the president, adding that he only accepted defeat because he did not have any options.
“You lost an election and you are now going round to tell people that you are a gen¬tle man. What options did he have after losing an election? Was he supposed to go to war? Up to the time of collation of results, Jonathan’s men were still busy collecting and inflat¬ing results in some parts of the country. There is no debate here. He contested an election and he was squarely defeated. There is no argument about that,” Lawal told our corre¬spondent.
Speaking further, he said: “Jonathan is not a gentle¬man and people should stop addressing him as such. He lost an election and that is it. The results that came from the South-east and the South-south were inflated, but we kept our cool. We know what happened in the president’s strongholds. If anyone should cry foul about inflation of re¬sults we should be the one. Elections did not hold in many parts of the south, ex¬cept for South-west. We are aware.
“Nigerians should disregard whatever the president is say¬ing. There was nothing the president and the PDP did not do to scuttle the elections. The show of shame at the colla¬tion centre was their last card. They campaigned against the use of card readers and did everything to ensure that elec¬tions did not hold. He only conceded because he knew the game was up. So, let us not begin to celebrate him as if he has done something extraordi¬nary.
“Let us not forget these things in a hurry before we be¬gin to confuse Nigerians. We cannot forget how they almost sabotaged the elections. The summary of the whole thing is that, Jonathan was defeated squarely and that is it. What¬ever anyone is saying should be disregarded.”
When contacted to react to the comments by the APC leaders, PDP’s National Pub¬licity Secretary, Olisa Metuh declined comment, saying the issue in contention is a presi¬dency matter and not of the party.
– Sun
