My defeat, an act of God – Jonathan

Barely 24 hours to handing over power President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan has described his defeat at the 2015 general election as an act of God.Jonathan also said he has accepted his defeat in the election in good faith.Explaining that people might adduce different reasons for the loss, Jonathan maintained that he was more inclined to take the electoral loss as an act of God.

He spoke at a reception held in his honour by the Chairman of DAAR Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, in Abuja, on Wednesday night.

The outgoing President said, “By this time, people are supposed to be running away from someone who has lost an election, but I am being celebrated by Daar Communications PLc.

He said, “For me, I have accepted in good faith whatever happened in the election. Even though some have argued that those I entrusted with my campaign disappointed me, I have no regrets for losing because in any political processes, there are all kinds of stories and conspiracies.

“We are a very religious society; whether Christians or Muslims or some other religions, I believe it is the will of God that the election went the way it did.

“I have always maintained that for the ordinary Nigerian, what is important is the style of governance, not who is even the president.

“Anybody can be the President any day but if the country is peaceful, and economic activities are going on smoothly, our children are going to school, hospitals are okay and people can eat what they want to eat then, of course, people will be happy.

‘‘I believe the incoming administration will toe that line and Nigerians will begin to see that there is no difference between political parties because even as we see there is no difference between the PDP and the APC.

“If you look at the number of people that moved from PDP to APC, then you will really see that both parties are almost the same.”

He said what should be paramount to Nigerians is what the government in power is bringing to bear, adding that he has always maintained that politicians must learn to put the people first.

He noted that if the aspiration of politicians was truly to serve the interest of the people, then their actions and utterances would not be tailored towards hurting the same people they claim to want to serve.

Jonathan said, ‘‘For me, my ambition is to see what contributions I can make for the ordinary people and that is why their lives are special to me. And I wouldn’t do anything that would create crisis, to kill innocent people.

‘‘People should not be surprised for the decision I took. I wouldn’t want to be a party that will diminish this country.

‘‘There is a combination of bad and good in my administration just like in any other administration, but what should be uppermost in the mind of the leader is to make sure that the bad is not more than the good.

To those who lost their elections at various levels, Jonathan said they should always remember that you might win tomorrow but that those who were killed in the process of electioneering can never witness another election.

Jonathan revealed his humorous side when he announced to the audience that his wife, Patience, could not attend the event because she was busy packing their personal effects out of the Presidential Villa.

“It is not easy to pack, you know.” he said.