APC leaders blast Jonathan for suggesting Buhari did not win election fairly

For insinuating that President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, did not fairly win the March 28 presidential election, President Goodluck Jonathan has attracted the ire of some All Progressives Congress, APC, leaders who described him as a bad loser.

They also alleged that Jonathan would rather continue to seek public sympathy than asking for forgiveness from Nigerians who rejected him at the March 28 poll due to bad governance.

Speaking shortly after receiving the report of the Ahmadu Ali-led PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, the President had 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 PDP is still the domi nant 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 be ing persecuted and the kind of situation facing you.”

But reacting to the above statement, a chieftain of the APC, Senator J. K. N. Waku said Jonathan was only crying foul where there was none, stressing that “he was defeated by Bu hari 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 speaking on the matter, National Vice Chairman of APC (North-east), Engr. David Lawal while chatting with Saturday Sun wondered why President Jonathan would cry foul after he publicly conceded defeat. He declared that contrary to Jonathan’s claims, results from South-south and South-east were inflated to favour the PDP.

“The man was roundly defeated. People are prais ing 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 out come of the elections. There is no big deal in the fact that Goodluck Jonathan accepted defeat. Nigeria is a funny country,” he said.

Expressing doubts over President Jonathan’s new ‘gentleman’ status, the APC top shot 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 gen tle 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 inflat ing 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 said.

He went on to say, “Jonathan is not a gentle man 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 re sults we should be the one. Elections did not hold in many parts of the south, ex cept for South-west. We are aware.

“Nigerians should disregard whatever the president is say ing. There was nothing the president and the PDP did not do to scuttle the elections. The show of shame at the colla tion centre was their last card. They campaigned against the use of card readers and did everything to ensure that elec tions 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 extraordi nary. “Let us not forget these things in a hurry before we be gin 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. What ever anyone is saying should be disregarded,” the APC Vice Chairman said.