As the United States Presidential election enters decisive phase with Democratic Presidential candidate, Joe Biden bidding his time even as he escalates his lead over incumbent president Donald Trump, immediate Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan on Friday weighed in.
Dr Jonathan who voluntarily conceded defeat to president Muhammadu Buhari by accepting the outcome of the 2015 presidential election said it is” better to gain honour at the cost of losing power than to gain power at the cost of losing honour.”
According to the immediate past president, political leaders should come to terms with the reality that” no matter the situation, political actors should be governed by the power of love more than the love of power.”
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He said, “Nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of any citizen. It is better to gain honour at the cost of losing power, than to gain power at the cost of losing honour. At any point in time, the power of love should matter more than the love of power.
“This is my philosophy. I have lived it. It has brought great peace to both my beloved nation and I. And I recommend it to all leaders facing challenging situations, either in government, or at the polls, or even in their dealings with fellow political actors. GEJ”
Jonathan had lost the 2015 presidential election as an incumbent to his then APC presidential candidate and challenger, now president Muhammadu Buhari who floored the former in a historic election as it was the first time in modern Nigerian history that an incumbent president would be visibly defeated.
President Buhari became the first Nigerian to defeat an incumbent president in a historic election. While trying to weigh in on the United States election on Friday, Jonathan said in a post on his verified Facebook page that no politician’s ambition should be considered as worth the blood of any citizen.
Jonathan’s comment is coming on the heels of the the United States election where Democratic candidate Joe Biden, is sprinting away to victory against President Donald Trump of the Republican with lead in crucial battleground states as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
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Many political analysts of the US polls have interpreted Jonathan’s statement as a way of counselling incumbent president Trump to accept the outcome of the election even as a winner has not been called.
