By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Few days to the Saturday, 25 February, 2023, presidential poll, former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan has urged politicians not to seek power at all costs but to eschew hatred and violence and embrace true sportsmanship, during and after the poll.
Jonathan made the appeal in a statement signed by his special Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze and made available to thegazellenews.com on Wednesday, 22 February, 2023.
The former President counseled youths not to be used as agents of violence and destruction in the February 25 and March 11 polls but to be “key partners in the nation-building”.
“Let us eschew hatred and violence and display true sportsmanship, during and after the poll.”
The statement signed by the ex-President’s Special Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, stated further that Jonathan also counselled youths not to be used as agents of violence and destruction in the February 25 and March 11 polls but to be “key partners in the nation-building”.
“To politicians, this is a time to be circumspect in our actions and work towards consolidating our democracy,” the former Nigerian leader said in a statement on Tuesday, 21 February, 2023.
“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 a bad light.
Eighteen Presidential Candidates are jostling for Aso Rock’s top job in Saturday, 25 February, 2023, election. Political violence has been recorded at the rallies of some of the leading parties, fueling concerns about the safety of voters in the polls.
Jonathan was Nigeria’s President between May 2010 and May 2015. The then flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), however, lost his reelection to Muhammadu Buhari, the then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015.
Below is the full text of Jonathan’s statement on the 2023 general elections:
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 a 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 toward advancing 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.
