BEN AGANDE, ABUJA

President Goodluck Jonathan’s dramatic acceptance of defeat in the presidential election, sealed with a telephone call to congratulate his All Progressives Congress (APC) rival, General Muhammadu Buhari, evoked mixed feelings at the Presidential Villa where the collation and announcement of votes was being keenly watched on television.

Jonathan

While some aides of the President, who, with the benefit of hindsight, contributed  to the sad outcome of the presidential election, wore long faces and even broke down in tears, there was excitement, even if muted, amongst some die hard supporters of  Buhari.

Though Jonathan had consistently made known that he would concede if he was defeated in the presidential election, not many people thought  he would do so in so short a time, especially when the results were still being collated and when there were several conspiracy theories that the delay in bringing the results from Delta State, a stronghold of the  president’s Peoples Democratic Party, was to allow for the ‘padding’ of votes for Jonathan to upturn the clear lead of the APC.

But those who were surprised at Jonathan’s concession may have done so out of sincere ignorance of the intrinsic quality of a man who is hugely misunderstood by many Nigerians.

Apart from the oft repeated story of the President’s humble background which many Nigerians could relate with, Jonathan remained a truly humble man and stridently strives to remain connected to his roots within the limits of security.

So while those who knew him closely were not in doubt that he would keep to his word and concede defeat if the electorate preferred his opponent to him, his new found friends strived, albeit unsuccessfully, to make the President compromise the process in order to remain in office.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that shortly before the President made the call to Buhari to concede defeat, some top government officials approached him with a proposal that “there was still a window of opportunity with the delay in the results of some states” for him to exploit and narrow the gap  in the released result between the APC and the PDP.

According to sources in the Villa, Jonathan resisted all persuasion to compromise the process with the intention of perpetuating himself in office.

“The President’s refrain to those who came to persuade him to allow the process to be doctored was: ‘Nigerians freely elected me in 2011 and I made a promise that I would not compromise the process for my own personal interest. Nigeria is greater than my ambition and I have promised Nigerians that my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. I would not change my position now,”one of  the sources said.

So when it became obvious that the PDP would not be able to bridge the gap in the election result,  the President, without consultation with any of his aides, except Vice President Namadi Sambo, decided that it was time for him to make the decision that has  catapulted him to the stature of a statesman, nationally and internationally. Shortly after hosting the leaders of the monitoring team from the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the Commonwealth Observer Mission, the President called the heads of  the nation’s national security agencies to direct that there should be no breakdown of law and order, retired to the inner recess of his residence and placed the ultimate call. It  was a single move that has set a new milestone not only in the country but the continent and has largely obviated some of the failings and even genuine mistakes of  Jonathan while in office.

The President’s decision sent shock waves when he announced to his aides that he had taken the ultimate decision and had conceded defeat. Sunday Vanguard gathered that while a few of  the aides accepted the decision with equanimity, others were overcome with emotion and broke down in tears.

The reaction of the staff at the Presidential Villa varied, depending on the class and closeness of the aides to Jonathan. For members of the presidential body guards whose duty it is to ensure the safety of the President, many of whom have grown to know Jonathan  more closely than many Nigerians, the President’s loss was seen as a betrayal by those he had trusted implicitly to look over his back, but who had sadly turned to sycophants and had painted  scenarios different from the reality on ground.

But in retrospect, though Jonathan conceded defeat and has won the respect of many Nigerians and the world, the role of some leaders and aides  have earned them medals of shame because of the negative roles they played in dressing the President in borrowed garb. It is a lesson that the President’s successor needs to hold dear to his heart knowing that as it was with Jonathan, so can it be with him.