The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has said he was still shocked at how former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat in the March 28, 2015, presidential elections and handed over the reins of power to him.
The President said it was such an incredible development that a man who had occupied various political offices as a deputy governor, governor, vice president and president could easily relinquish power to the opposition party, adding that Jonathan had by this gesture, distinguished himself as generous and gracious man.
President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari Buhari, who gave glowing tribute to his predecessor while hosting State House Correspondents to a luncheon at the new banquet hall of the Presidential Villa yesterday, was offering retrospective highlights of his early days in office after his inauguration.
He said that the last one year had been “a tumultuous year for everyone in the villa”, revealing that it was the congratulatory call from Jonathan made that prompted him to visit the Villa in the company of former Head of State, Abdusalami Abubakar, for appreciation.
He said: “I will talk about my experience here in Aso Villa. I underrated the influence of the PDP for 16 years, watching from outside as 8 consecutive governments.
The experience of the staff, their commitment and zeal is different from what it is now. 16 years of development in the life of a developing nation is a long time.
“When we came, there were 42 ministries. We cut it to 24. This is where I pay my respect to former President Goodluck Jonathan. This is actually a privileged information for you.
He called me at a quarter past five in the evening. He said good evening Your Excellency Sir and I said good evening. ‘’He said I have called to congratulate you that I have conceded defeat. Of course, there was dead silence on my end because I did not expect it.
I was shocked. I did not expect it because after 16 years, the man was a deputy governor, governor, Vice President and was President for six years.
“For him to have conceded defeat even before the result was announced by INEC, I think it was quite generous and gracious of him.
“Abdulsalam recognized the generosity of Jonathan to concede defeat and said we should go and thank him immediately and that was the first time I came here.”
The President stated that reducing the Ministries to 24 from 42 was the best decision to take in the face of the circumstances his government found himself.
“We had to do it on our own we found out that government could not continue with 42 ministers and the paraphernalia of office. So, we cut it down to 24. We had to cut down half the number of permanent secretaries and then do some cross postings”, he said.
