By Ebiowei Lawal – Yenagoa
Former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, today prayed that Nigerians who are eligible to vote experience a peaceful election that is free from violence and rigging, even as voting commenced very late at his polling unit 39, ward 13, in his country home, Otuoke Community of Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.
Dr. Jonathan who voted about 12 noon due to delay in the arrival of material, a situation that also affected other parts of the state, said he was was worried when he got to his polling unit at 8:30am and did not meet any INEC official or see election materials.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after casting his vote, Jonathan said “let me thank all of you that are involve in the electoral process on the election day, the inec staff, media people, the security and the government, sometimes things seem so easy but practically is a bit difficult and I am happy that I voted, I was a bit worried when I got here at 8:30 and there was nobody and this is almost to 12 and I have voted .
“Election has commenced in this polling unit, which means we have tried. We have started election and my wish for Nigeria is for us to conduct a peaceful election, and for us who are politicians, our conduct matters a lot. And I always tell politicians, the means you can use to win election is not violence.
“When you use violence to win election or buying votes, when you do that, you are simply behaving like an arm robber or a con man who rather makes money through robbery. The irony is that everybody will know that you are a con man, a con man who makes money through deceiving people.
For me, politicians are suppose to be decent members of the society, so we must conduct ourselves decently both supporters, relatives and friends. We must understand that it is our duty to make politics a clean business, so that people can be free to voters the candidate they prefer.
“My plea is that politicians should realize that the whole world is looking at us and so many senior global citizens are in Nigeria because of this election, and they want us to succeed, So, we must not fail.”
