The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has described the act of his predecessor, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, to concede defeat, even before the formal announcement of the election result, as “unprecedented and, definitely, not Nigerian”.
Buhari made the assertion at a farewell meeting with his media support group, Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), at the State House, Abuja on Thursday, 18 May.
“Jonathan called me at 5:25 that evening to say congratulations. I said pardon me Mr. President? He said yes, I called to concede and congratulate you. That was equally very un-Nigerian.”
While calling on Nigerians to walk on the path of duty if they really wanted to see the country achieve new heights, the president showered praises on members of BMO for volunteering their time and energy throughout the eight years of his administration “without salary, letter of appointment or any formal rewards, describing their sacrifices as ‘very un-Nigerian.”
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Buhari also likened the sacrifices of the BMO members to that of past leaders, citing, in particular, Generals Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo, and himself.
He recalled how in the period of the civil war, he walked from Makurdi, in today’s Benue State, to the shorelines.
However, Buhari advised the High Commissioners of the United Kingdom, Richard Hugh Montgomery, and Sri Lanka, Velupillai Kananathan, to always uphold the noble standards of diplomacy, like their predecessors, by respecting Nigerian cultures and traditional institutions. He spoke, when he received Letters of Credence from the diplomats.
Jonathan called for the entrenchment of a culture of integrity across both the corporate and civil spaces as a way of addressing the problems associated with governance, democracy and development in the country.
READ ALSO: Ex-President Jonathan Counsels Nigerians Ahead Of Saturday’s Election
At the same time, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman, Presidential Transition Council, Boss Mustapha, told a world press conference, yesterday, that nothing could stop the transition of power on 29 May.
Nonetheless, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, yesterday, adjourned till 24 May the ruling in a suit seeking to stop the inauguration of Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 29 May, 2023.