Fresh facts emerged at the weekend on how President Goodluck Jonathan averted a nation-wide post-election violence.
Sunday Sun gathered that earlier to the release of the final results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party together with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Organization (PDPCO) had met with Jonathan at the villa where they analyzed the situation.
According to a source privy to the meeting, both President Jonathan and Director-General of his Campaign Organisation, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, were firm in their resolve to uphold the unity of the country in spite of the irregularities that characterised the conduct of the elections in some parts of the country.
For Jonathan, the source continued, conceding victory to the opposition even before the final announcement of the result was a better way of dousing the rising tension which could have thrown the country into turmoil. Consequently, the president took the bull by the horn by congratulating the APC and the president-elect ahead of the announcement so that the winning party could focus more on the transition and governance than on politicking.
“President Jonathan did not want violence. And the way he structured his campaign organization made everybody to fall in line. But for the president, Ali and the Board of Trustees Chairman, Tony Anenih, there could have been post-election crisis. All supporters of the party simply keyed into the mind frame of the president.
“As soon as the president made the pronouncement, and the party leadership including Ali and Anenih passed the message down the line, party members keyed into the directive,” the source concluded.
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