Jonathan said while he would be leaving office to manage his private businesses, Buhari would be coming to manage the whole country.
According to him, his decisions after leaving office will affect him personally; while whatever mistakes Buhari makes will affect the whole nation.
Jonathan spoke at the National Christian Church Abuja today during the 2015 Presidential Thanksgiving and Inauguration Interdenominational Church Service themed “Give Thanks in All Circumstances”.
“I call on you to pray for us who are leaving because today is the last day I’ll speak with you in this place as the president of Nigeria. If I’ve the opportunity of standing here again, I’d be speaking as a former president. Pray for me, my wife and family, members of my government, ministers and others as we leave. “But you should even pray more for the incoming government because we’re leaving probably to go and manage our private businesses. They (the incoming government) are coming in to manage the whole country. So, they require more prayer. I’m leaving and will be taking decisions that will be affecting me. If they (the incoming administration) do any mistake, it’ll affect the whole nation. So, I call on you to pray for this incoming government for them to succeed”.
According to the president, all that Nigerians want is good governance, unity and peace.
“On behalf of my family, my wife, mother, children and all the people around me, I thank you and I say goodbye”, he said.
Earlier in his sermon Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria Archbishop Nicolas Okoh preached forgiveness and charged Jonathan to, on the eve of leaving office, reflect on what he did wrong and right.
He noted that by conceding defeat in the March 28 presidential election, Jonathan was leaving behind, a new political attitude that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of anyone.
“...God saved our country from the prophesy of doom that we’d disintegrate. Mr president, you’ve a crown of compassion and love, not of shame.
“We should pray for a united Nigeria; a country where every citizen will feel at home. At the moment, Nigerians are grossly divided along many lines. Nigerians, we’re all travelling to the future in a large ship. Soon enough, the pilot will be General Muhammadu Buhari with the support of the vice president-elect. Our duty is to pray for the incoming government so that it shall be well with our country and all of us”, Okoh said.
The cleric, who also called on Nigerians to be patient with Buhari’s administration as it would need time to make an impact, noted that it takes time to build anything enduring.
The vice president-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was accompanied by his wife, prayed for Jonathan and the country.
The president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ayo Oritsejafor, presented a certificate of excellence and a plague to Jonathan, for achieving peace for Nigeria.
-Daily Trust