Former President Goodluck Jonathan says he would have relocated his mother to Abuja, the nation’s capital, if Duoye Diri, the governor of Bayelsa, had not been reelected.
Jonathan spoke on Friday when he visited Diri in Yenagoa, the capital and commended the governor for addressing the problem of insecurity in the state.
He added that cultism and kidnapping have reduced from the “suffocating level they used to be”.
The former president advised runner-ups in Saturday’s election to embrace peace and work together for the progression of the state.
“We don’t want to go into an unnecessary crisis in the state. Results have been declared and we believe the election was conducted,” he said.
“We believe the governor won the election and we plead that people should accept it and work with the governor. Let all of us support him so that the state will move ahead. There should be nothing that will push the state backwards.
“We should think about the development of the state starting from the issue of peace and security in the state which within this last period, three years plus, there are significant improvements in terms of cultism and kidnapping and so on and so forth.
“I was saying before this election that if Diri loses this election, I would have relocated my mother to Abuja.
“My cousin was kidnapped two times on one of those occasions, one of my cousins, Solo, was killed because they threw him into the river and he didn’t know how to swim.
“So, we’ve passed through hell in this state and we’ve seen a little light at the end of the tunnel.
“So, people should calm down, and allow Diri to focus on governance so that he will be able to propel this state forward so that we will benefit as citizens of the state.”