Presidential poll defeat: How Jonathan, Ahmadu Ali averted violence

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.