President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday declared that former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, were not mentally prepared for the defeat they suffered during the last general elections.

He explained that this lack of mental preparedness was made manifest in the failure of the Jonathan government to put in place the necessary structures for transition, stressing that this nearly led to a national crisis.

Buhari spoke through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a keynote address delivered at an event on Strengthening Nigeria’s Transition Framework for Democratic Consolidation organized by the National Democratic Institute, NDI.

The address was titled ‘the Challenges of Transition in Nigeria and the Imperatives for a New Framework’.

“Our experience in the last transition process was unique despite the fact that we have held many general elections and transitioned from one government to another. Indeed, the last election heralded the first real transition in the history of our nation, being the first time that an opposition party will sweep the ruling party out of power,” Buhari said.

Also speaking at the programme, the Minister of Youths and Sports, Mr Solomon Lalung, recalled that the transition committee set up by Buhari was offered only N20m which was turned down because it was inadequate to take care of its expenses.