Why Nigeria escaped post-election violence –Ekweremadu

 
Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Ike Ekweremadu, has said the magnanimity of President Goodluck Jonathan to concede defeat in the just concluded presidential election, saved Nigeria of a post-election violence.
This is even as the parliament condemned the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, describing it as unnecessary, barbaric and a shame.

Speaking during the first ordinary session of the parliament yesterday in Abuja, Ekweremadu, who is also the deputy president of the Senate, said Jonathan’s worthy example laid the foundation for the post-election peace and stability Nigerians currently enjoy.
He congratulated the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, on his victory at the polls, saying he believed Nigeria and indeed, the West African sub-region would be the better if the winner matched Jonathan’s sportsmanship in defeat with magnanimity in victory.
“You would recall that this parliament passed a resolution during the extraordinary session last February, stressing the need for peaceful, free, and fair 2015 general elections in Nigeria. The elections have come and gone and the government and good people of Nigeria have made us proud.
“Against all predictions of doom, the March 28 and April 11 elections went peacefully. Both local and international observers, including the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission, have adjudged the two set of elections as free, fair, and credible. Although the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), my party, lost the presidential election; the President, Goodluck Jonathan, accepted the outcome of the election.
“As a true democrat, he called and congratulated the winner, General Buhari, even before the completion of the collation of the entire results and the declaration of a winner. His worthy example, which was also emulated by many gubernatorial candidates, laid the foundation for the post-election peace and stability Nigerians are enjoying today,” Ekweremadu said.
On the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, Ekweremadu said the attacks had reared their ugly heads yet again in the Republic of South Africa, adding that fellow Africans, West Africans inclusive, their businesses, and properties had been targets of mob attacks.
The attacks, Ekweremadu stated, were not only ugly, but also unnecessary, adding that little wonder that the attacks attracted global condemnations.