President Goodluck Jonathan has been described as a bad loser who would rather continue to seek public sympathy than asking for forgiveness from Nigerians who rejected him at the March 28 presidential election for bad governance.
This was the consensus of some All Progressives Congress, APC leaders who were reacting to President Jonathan’s claim on Thursday that the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari did not win the last election fairly.
Jonathan, who spoke shortly after receiving the report of the Senator Ahmadu Ali-led PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation at the Presidential 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 history, 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 dominant 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 being persecuted and the kind of situation facing you.”
Reacting to the president’s claim, APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed 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 defeat.
He condemned the continued blackmail by the Jonathan administration as a result of President Jonathan’s concession of defeat, wondering whether the concession, gracious as it was, has now become a shield for all wrong doings.
‘’We are sick and tired of being blackmailed by the Jonathanians. Gen. Buhari won the March 28 Presidential Elections fair and square, having satisfied both constitutional and other statutory requirements. We have no apology for our victory, and the concession of defeat – while it may have increased the political stock of President Jonathan, 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 president’s statement, APC chieftain Senator JKN Waku said Jonathan was only crying foul where there was none, adding that “he was defeated by Buhari 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 Sunyesterday, 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 favour the PDP.
“The man was roundly defeated. People are praising 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 outcome 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 gentle 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 inflating 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 correspondent.
Speaking further, he said: “Jonathan is not a gentleman 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 results we should be the one. Elections did not hold in many parts of the south, except for South-west. We are aware.
“Nigerians should disregard whatever the president is saying. There was nothing the president and the PDP did not do to scuttle the elections. The show of shame at the collation centre was their last card. They campaigned against the use of card readers and did everything to ensure that elections 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 extraordinary.
“Let us not forget these things in a hurry before we begin 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. Whatever anyone is saying should be disregarded.”
When contacted to react to the comments by the APC leaders, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh declined comment, saying the issue in contention is a presidency matter and not of the party
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