Gov. Sule Lamido of Jigawa, said on Friday that the election of Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the last presidential polls had thrown up the ideal nation the citizens had craved for.
He said this to State House correspondents shortly after he met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Aso Rock Villa.
He said the election had eliminated ethnic or religious biases in the general elections and thanked the electorate for standing for the country.
“We can see now the Nigeria we are looking for; that thing which is Nigeria for Nigeria not for the North or South or Christian or Muslim.
“The Nigerian factor is now coming out.
“That whoever becomes the President is going to be the Nigerian president, not for any particular religion or area.
“To me this is how I see the elections and I thank Nigerians for standing for Nigeria.’’
Lamido said that the reaction of President Goodluck Jonathan to the result “showed that that our president has a large heart to congratulate Buhari and also Buhari became humble in victory’’.
He said that some diplomats from South Africa, Ghana and the African Union had called to ask him to thank Nigerians for being able to manage its own affairs internally.
According to him, the diplomats expressed the apprehension of the international community over the inability of the country to remain cohesive after the polls.
He, however, said they were surprised to see the positive outcomes of the polls because in spite of the challenges Nigerians were able to solve their problems by themselves.
The Jigawa governor admitted that the ruling party made some mistakes at the polls as the members were unable to manage the party’s successes.
“PDP made some mistakes; I have been saying so; very fundamental mistakes.
“We have not been able to manage our successes but for me I do not believe that a fight in PDP will be the answer.
“In any case, the Nigerian people have said yes to APC, they have spoken in a very loud way and so we respect their choice if they are right,’’ he said.
On the allegation that PDP governors did not work hard for the president, Lamido said they were mere emotions.
“When we are leaders in times there are so many emotions; you don’t go into blame games; in which way will this blame change the situation on ground now?
“The cohesion of the party is more important.
“Leadership is a huge burden and it is normal for the followership to speculate.
“But we as leaders should be able to stand up and live above the sentiment and accusations because if we submit to them we will destroy our conscience and may be destroy our country.’’
He admitted that the Buhari victory might have a bandwagon effect on the remaining state elections and that the ruling party should work very hard.
“Again I congratulate Buhari for taking over from the PDP. Even though I may not be happy that we lost but somehow it is Nigeria which won not Buhari that has won.
“I thank Nigerians for saving Nigeria and saving Africa and for being a leader in Africa,’’ said Lamido.