Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called for peaceful polls even as he urged voters to make the best use of their power of choice in the elections.
Nigerians of voting age will go to poll on Saturday 25 February to elect a new president and members of the national assembly.
The incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, will leave office on 29 May after he must have finished his two terms of eight years – the maximum permitted by the country’s constitution.
Mr Buhari was first elected president on the ticket of the APC in 2015. He was re-elected for his second and final term in 2019.
In a statement he personally signed on his verified Facebook page, Mr Jonathan admonished Nigerians to approach the election with devotion, dedication, and selflessness by ensuring that the country’s peace and unity are not jeopardised as voters exercise their franchise and pursue their political dreams and aspirations.
Mr Jonathan, a former governor of Bayelsa State in Nigeria’s south-south region, also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, and other critical stakeholders to be professional, civil, and non-partisan as they carry out their duties during the election, saying: “This way, we can deepen citizens’ faith in our democratic process and minimize the likelihood of electoral violence.”
To the politicians, Mr Jonathan said it is time to be circumspect in their actions and work towards consolidating the country’s democracy.
“Power is sought and held in the trust to be selflessly exercised in the interest of the people and seeking it at all costs negates this ideal and projects politicians in a bad light, ” he said.
He called on the politicians to eschew hatred, and violence and display true sportsmanship, during and after the poll.
Although 18 political parties are participating in the presidential election, four of them -APC, PDP, LP and NNPP- are, however, the parties with the leading contenders.
All the candidates have committed to a peace accord, promising to play by the rules, though the chairperson of the National Peace Committee, Abdulsalami Abubakar, said some of the major parties have been violating the terms of the peace agreement.
To the youth, who constitute a major demographic among the registered voters, the former president who lost his reelection bid in the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the PDP, said: “the future belongs to you; do not allow yourselves to be used as agents of destruction and violence. Nigeria is yours to build.”
Mr Jonathan was first made acting President on 9 February 2010 based on the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ invoked by the Nigerian Senate following a prolonged absence of then-President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who was away in Saudi Arabia for treatment over an undisclosed ailment.
He became full president after the death of Mr Yar’Adua in May 2010 and then contested as the candidate of the PDP in the 2011 presidential election, which he won.
Mr Jonathan, however, failed to win a second term in office in 2015, conceding victory to the winner, Mr Buhari.
Although he was rumoured to be interested in the 2023 presidential election on the ticket of the APC, there was nothing concrete enough to validate the rumour as truth since he neither defected to the APC nor bought the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms.
STATEMENT ON THE 2023 ELECTION
Fellow Compatriots,
This is a historic week for our country, as citizens of voting age go out to cast their ballots this weekend to elect our next president and federal parliamentarians who will be expected to make laws for the common good of the land. The same exercise will be repeated for governorship and state houses of assembly in two weeks.
It is a time that requires us all to exercise the highest form of patriotism in our nation-building journey and collective quest for peace and progress.
Let us approach this election with devotion, dedication, and selflessness, by ensuring that we don’t jeopardize our country’s peace and unity as we exercise our franchise and pursue our political dreams and aspirations.
In recent times, West Africa and few other nations in our continent have witnessed a crisis of democracy that has led to unconstitutional change of governments, which has derailed their democratic quest for peace and development.
We must not allow our elections to be a source of violence and anarchy. We must desist from the temptation of yielding to those desirous of making our communities and states, theatres of conflicts for their selfish ends.
Let us realize that the primary purpose of democracy is to uphold the freedom and dignity of citizens and deploy the instruments of governance towards the advancement and improving the well-being of our people.
We should strive to consolidate the gains we have recorded in our democracy in the last two decades by ensuring that the elections are peaceful, just, and fair.
I urge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, and other critical stakeholders in our democracy to be professional, civil, and non-partisan as they carry out their duties during this election. This way, we can deepen citizens’ faith in our democratic process and minimize the likelihood of electoral violence.
To politicians, this is a time to be circumspect in our actions and work towards consolidating our democracy. Power is sought and held in trust to be selflessly exercised in the interest of the people and seeking it at all costs negates this ideal and projects politicians in bad light.
Let us eschew hatred and violence and display true sportsmanship, during and after the poll.
To our youth, the future belongs to you; do not allow yourselves to be used as agents of destruction and violence. Nigeria is yours to build.
This election provides you with the opportunity to be key partners in the nation-building process by electing leaders of your choice; those you can hold to account, those you trust to defend your future and guarantee unity, peace, and prosperity in our great country.
Finally, to all citizens, this is a moment of truth and courage. Democracy has put our fate in our hands. It has given us power, power to make right choices, determine our future and shape our destiny.
I urge you all to make your respective choices in the best interest of our land. Let us make our choices peacefully and respect the choices and rights of others.
God bless Nigeria.
– GEJ