The Osun Governorship election may have been concluded, but former President Goodluck Jonathan says the heavy convergence of governors and officials of the Federal Government on that state created unnecessary tension.
In a statement he released on Tuesday, former president Jonathan called on the National Peace Committee headed by former military head of state, General Abdusalami Abubakar to intervene by convening a stakeholders meeting to ensure this does not persistent.
“Apprehension, intimidation, bullying and undue pressure,” he says, creates an incondusive atmosphere for elections
Jonathan claimed that when key members of his party, the PDP and governors besieged Anambra in 2013 and Ekiti State in 2014 for a governorship election, he ordered all of them to exit the state.
APGA’s governorship candidate, Willie Obiano retained Anambra State for the party, while the then incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, lost re-election to PDP’s Ayodele Fayose.
Jonathan’s statement insists that the issue is of broader national importance.
“The power and influence attached to public office must strengthen democratic institutions and not to create apprehension among political opponents or citizens,” he added.
Jonathan says contestantation for political power must not be “perceived as something that must be achieved at all costs.”
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(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
