Goodluck asks Nigerians to forgive any mistakes he might have made while in office

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has pleaded with Nigerians to forgive him and members of his administration for any mistakes they might have made during the period that they ran the affairs of the country.

 

Speaking yesterday at a special thanksgiving service organised by the Aso Villa Chapel to bid him and his immediate family farewell after losing the March 28 presidential elections, President Jonathan said that no man is born perfect. According to President Jonathan, he may have done things in particular ways that may have offended some people but pleaded that such actions were not deliberate.

 

President Jonathan said: “No system is perfect and every human system must have an element of imperfection. For the past eight years, we have been here because my transition from vice president to president was gradual and complicated.

 

"We have certainly done things we probably shouldn’t but we didn’t do those things deliberately, so for those who we have offended, it was not deliberate, it was circumstances of the office. We also plead that those people should forgive, as we think we have done our best."

 

Also speaking at the service, his wife Dame Patience Jonathan commended Nigerians for the support they gave to her husband in the last eight years, adding that their elevation to the present position was the work of God. She also revealed that during the election campaign, she sneaked out of the country for treatment in Germany and after her husband lost, she miraculously recovered.

 

Dame Jonathan said: “I never thought in my life that I will be first lady and I never dreamt of being wife of a deputy governor because my husband was not a politician. However, God made it possible and God lifted us up from deputy governor and here we are.

 

“Just two years ago, I went through operation upon operations and within one month, I passed through 12 operations. Some people said I was dead but God resurrected me and during the campaign period, the devil struck again, in pains, I was rushed to a hospital in Germany and the doctors said I had to undergo a major operation."

 

Vice president-elect Professor Yemi Osinbajo was invited by President Jonathan to the event, so he could officially hand over the Aso Villa chapel to him but Professor Osinbajo was unable to attend.  Present at the event were the former information minister Professor Jerry Gana, the one-time Governor of Bayelsa State Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and some cabinet members.