Jonathan, PDP not mentally prepared for defeat – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party were not mentally prepared for the defeat they suffered during the April general elections,

Buhari said this in Abuja on Monday in a keynote address titled, the Challenges of Transition in Nigeria and the Imperatives for a New Framework, at an event on Strengthening Nigeria’s Transition Framework for Democratic Consolidation organised by the National Democratic Institute.

The President, who was represented at the event by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said as a result of lack of mental preparation, the government of Jonathan could not put the structures necessary for transition in place and this nearly led to a national crisis.

At the event, the Minister of Youths and Sports, Mr. Solomon Lalung, said the transition committee set up by Buhari was offered only N20m which was turned down because it was adequate to take care of its expenses.

Buhari said, “Our experience in the last transition process was unique despite the fact that we have held many general elections and there have been hand over of four from one government to another. Indeed, the last election heralded the first real transition in the history of our nation, being the first time that an opposition party will sweep the ruling party out of power.

“This probably explains why the then ruling government was completely caught unawares by the outcome of the election. For the government led by a ruling party that vowed to stay in power for 60 years in the first instance, they were not prepared for the transition that would not be from themselves to themselves. How can they, when they felt invincible, judging by the perceived strength and assumed popularity and the huge resources at their disposal?

“Because they were not mentally prepared for the outcome of that election, they were unable to put in place structures that would make the transition process that followed. Because our country lacks an institutionalised transition system, the then ruling government simply did not know what to do, and unpatriotic elements exploited the situation, which almost led to a national crisis.”

Speaking at the event, Director of White House Transition Project, United States of America, Prof. Martha Kumar, said an incoming administration should be able to gather whatever information it needs from the incumbent administration.

For a successful transition following the election, the burden should be on the incumbent administration to provide whatever the incoming administration believes it needs to see, she said.

The NDI Country Director, Mr. Jasper Veen, said although many African countries had witnessed a transfer of power from one elected president to another, not many countries have witnessed the transfer of power between a governing party and opposition party.

 PUNCH