Jonathan Was Not Pressured To Concede 2015 Election – Abubakar

A former Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), has said former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was not pressured to concede the 2015 presidential election.

Naija News reports that Abubakar ruled the country between 1998 and 1999, following the death of a former military dictator, late General Sani Abacha.

In an interview with Daily Trust on Saturday, Abubakar refuted speculations that Jonathan was pressured by foreign countries and the National Peace Committee to concede the election to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The elder statesman said the former President conceded the election on his own despite the pressure from his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to concede and transfer power to Buhari.

He revealed that the peace committee spoke with Jonathan and Buhari on how to resolve the political tension in the country, adding that the dialogue led to the former president calling his successor to congratulate him.

Abubakar noted that Jonathan should be commended for conceding the election which saved the country from implosion and political crisis.

He said: “I think whoever is telling stories of the pressure from foreign countries and the peace committee on Jonathan to concede, is not being fair to him. I think President Jonathan deserves all commendation for what he has done to save this country from further political logjam.

“On his own, he conceded the situation and despite the pressure from his own party not to concede, he conceded defeat and called President Buhari to say “Your Excellency congratulations, I think you have won squarely I congratulate you; you are going to be the next president of this country.

“So I think Jonathan’s role is being underestimated and credit is not given to him as it should be. I confirm here, it was neither pressure from the peace committee, nor from the international community, it was out of his volition, it was out of his love for peace and progress of this country, that he conceded.

“Of course during the logjam, we talked to him and talked to Buhari on how to resolve the issues. You could remember the drama that happened when the results were being declared, certainly that put a lot of stress on the peace committee and quite a lot of homework had to be done in order to quench that problem that would have arisen from the declaration of results.

“I must thank the security forces and Nigerians really for the success of what happened in the 2015 election. Nigerians are good people, they are good and honest people, they love this country and each of us played a role to make sure that there was peace and tranquillity in 2015.“