Nigerian former President, Dr 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.
Next Saturday 25 February, Nigerians of voting age will go to the poll to elect a new president and members of the two chambers 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.
Buhari was first elected president on the ticket of the APC in 2015 after defeating Jonathan in an historic election. He was re-elected for his second and final term in 2019 when he defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Jonathan, in a statement he personally signed on his verified Facebook page, 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.
Jonathan, a former governor of Bayelsa State in the south-south region of Nigeria, 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, 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.
