TheCable

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerians to come out and vote en masse during Saturday’s presidential election.

Jonathan, who asked citizens to shun violence and hate, said high turn out of voters is the best antidote to rigging.

He appealed to them to peacefully elect the country’s next president.

“My simple message to you is that if you love Nigeria, you must come out to vote,” he wrote on Facebook.

“The best antidote to rigging of elections is a high voter turnout. Remember, none of us is greater than all of us.”

He preached against voter apathy, adding that doing nothing is “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil”.

“As a wise man once said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”, he said.

“You are all good Nigerians. I therefore urge you to come out and vote based on your conscience and conviction.”

Jonathan, who was the first Nigerian president to be defeated in an election, said the quest for power is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.

“Now it is your turn to prove that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any citizen,” he said.

“Shun violence, shun hatred. Come out this Saturday and vote peacefully for the Nigeria of your choice. Remember, we are all brothers and sisters born from the womb of one mother Nigeria.”

The presidential election is holding alongside that of the national assembly on Saturday, while governorship and house of assembly polls will hold on March 2.

There are 73 presidential candidates, with President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seen as the frontline candidates.