President Goodluck Jonathan has said that politics is a contestation of ideas and not war.
He spoke on Thursday in Lagos at the 25th anniversary of Aka Ikenga, an Igbo think tank political group.
In his goodwill message, President Jonathan, who was represented by the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, said even though the opposition may not agree on strategies, such disagreements must not be to the detriment of the health of the nation.
He said: “Politics is a contest of idea. It is not a war that must be won by dangerous or foul means. Nigerians can disagree on policies, on the sequence of policy initiative and the outcome, we can even disagree on strategies”, but that politics must not be played at the expense of overriding public interest”.
President Jonathan added that leaders must engage each other with decorum.
