I Didn’t See My Defeat as an Insult – Niger Gov

The Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, on Wednesday, accepted defeat in the last Saturday National Assembly polls that brought David Umaru as Senator-elect of the Niger East senatorial zone.
Aliyu, who spoke to newsmen in Minna, said he had been calling the senator-elect to congratulate him but his calls and text messages were unanswered.
“I have already conceded defeat to Barrister David Umaru. I have called his number after he was declared winner about seven times, but he did not pick. I sent a text saying ‘this is the Chief Servant calling, please pick’ and I have not received a reply by now. “I have no qualms about the defeat. I did not see my defeat as an insult to my person but as God’s will.”
Commending the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for paying attention to details, Aliyu said the electoral body should appreciate the shortcomings in the election and work towards correcting it.
He also applauded the gentleman approach of President Goodluck Jonathan in congratulating the President-elect adding that his action defused whatever tension that was on ground during the collation of the results.
“President Jonathan’s approach doused whatever tension that had been created. It worked to smoothen whatever rough edge the election would have created. We hope that the transition will be smooth and everyone will see a friendly handover,” Aliyu said.