Chief Okorie, Arewa New Agenda congratulate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
From Cyril Mbah, Abuja.
The North group known as the Arewa New Agenda has joined other Nigerians and foreigners in congratulating the President elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the outcome of the 2023 Presidential election.
Addressing a press conference on the outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections, the group’s spokesman and Convener Senator Ahmad Abubakar Moallahyidi described Tinubu’s victory at the election as a success story that should be accepted by all as the will of God.
“This victory is a Nigerian success story. In the spirit of national cohesion, we look forward to a new beginning and urge all Nigerians to close ranks and support the incoming administration to take the country to greater heights. In the same vein, we hasten to respond to some self-serving individuals whose utterances are at variance with peaceful coexistence, especially former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We read Chief Obasanjo’s press release calling on the INEC Chairman to bow to some of his (Obasanjo’s caprices) which as expected has gone viral as we believe that is one of the effects, he set out to achieve and shared his thoughts about how he thinks things should go in the 2023 electioneering process for the national elections.
“We are sure he is aware that his disposition has triggered a lot of debates and engendered mixed reactions nationwide; it has been perceived in different ways by different people depending on their political persuasions and the interests they represent. Of utmost importance is the centrality of his person in this discourse. We however depart from him in his penchant for fanning the embers of regionalism, ethnicity and sectionalism.”
The group accused former President Obasanjo of not behaving like a respected statesman and being unduly partisan in support of Mr. Peter Obi as his preferred choice and candidate as communicated in an open letter to young Nigerians before the general elections.
According to the group, “This singular act throws Obasanjo in the ring as a partisan person in the affairs of the 2023 national elections. Therefore, he will excuse our response to his tirade as the vituperations of a concerned party man, who sees defeat steering his candidate in the face in the same manner as the attempt to cause mayhem and disrupt the coalition of results which did not gain traction by the chief spin doctors of the Labor Party and the PDP.”
While accusing Chief Obasanjo of showing “the worst example of democratic adherence to processes and procedures; when he held sway as President and leader of the PDP,” the group also claimed that the retired general during his time as president, insisted it was his way or never.
“Chief Obasanjo is the reason the PDP became a disdainful outcast with no respect for the rule of law and internal democracy. He was the chief architect of the collapse of the PDP as a formidable party. We, therefore, posit that he represents the worst advocate of political righteousness. Furthermore, his reference to unity, internal democracy and moral standing made his press release hollow and laughable; and it is painful to see someone of his statute, falling to the lowest level of becoming the chief proponent of a rehearsed political hatchet job.”
The group called on Nigerians to dissociate themselves from the alleged incitement by self-seeking leaders, who are bent on causing confusion in the land when situations and policies do not favour them or their supporters.
“We call on the good people of the great nation Nigeria to disassociate themselves from the inciting press release by former President Obasanjo and others who are trying to undermine our democracy that our people have labored for since the commencement of the release of guidelines by INEC for the 2023 national elections as this is unacceptable. We encourage all and sundry who have issues to seek redress through laid processes.”
Warming up on the position of the group, Senator Abubakar asked, “How can you say a political electioneering process, where Tinubu couldn't deliver Lagos; Ganduje couldn't deliver Kano, El-Rufai couldn't deliver Kaduna, Buhari couldn't deliver Katsina; APC Chairman couldn't deliver Nasarawa; Ahmed Lawan couldn't deliver Yobe; Lalong couldn't deliver Plateau and even lost his senatorial bid; Philip Aduda couldn't deliver Abuja; South East Governors lost in South East, is this same election that you are vilifying as a corrupted process?
He gave what he described as food for thought by pointing out that “Peter Obi won Tinubu’s Lagos,
Atiku won Buhari’s Katsina, Tinubu did not even win Osun, Atiku did. Kwankwaso won Ganduje’s Kano. Peter Obi won Abdullahi Sule’s Nasarawa while Atiku won Mai Mala’s Yobe,” and wondered what other type of transparency can be better than this?
The group also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for opening up the space for everyone to exercise his/her franchise and discharge his responsibility to the nation by voting freely. We encourage the INEC Chairman and his hardworking staff to remain steadfast and undaunted in this national assignment and we salute our security men and women for holding the country together led to the very peaceful election of February 25, 2023. We look forward to seeing another successful outing on March 11, 2023.”
In a related development, the pioneer National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA} Chief Chekwas Okorie has also congratulated the President-Elect, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, describing the election that ensured his emergence as “keenly contested while the use of technology showed a balanced election results different from what used to be the case.”.
“I congratulate Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu on his victory at the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria. The election was keenly contested and the use of technology showed balanced election results different from what used to be the case. The outcome of the elections has also thrown up a more balanced National Assembly. Nigerians should expect a more robust and vibrant 10th National Assembly,” he said.
Chief Okorie urged Tinubu to take immediate steps to bind the open wounds that have caused a lot of division, suspicion, and alienation among Nigerian citizens. “This is a sine quo non to the success of any policy he may enunciate to promote and grow the economy as well as provide jobs and other democracy dividends to the Nigerian people. I am confident that the well-known political sagacity and savvy of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu shall be put to maximum use at this time.”
He also appealed to Nigerians whose preferred candidates did not win the 2023 presidential election to accept and respect the mandate given to the President-elect by the majority of Nigerian voters, pointing out that “This is what democracy is all about.”
He also appealed to presidential candidates of other political parties that participated in the elections, who are not happy with the outcome to use the legal window rather than engaging in incitement and other actions that may create disaffection among the citizens.
“In the same token, l appeal to all the contestants for the office of President of Nigeria, who may be aggrieved by the outcome of the election to avail themselves of the available legal window to address their grievances. Any resort to self-help will not be in the interest of anybody,” Chief Okorie, who was APGA’s 2023 presidential candidate, declared.