Some concerned Nigerians and All Progressives Congress (APC) Volunteers marched on the Unity Fountain in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, yesterday to express their solidarity with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
They also expressed their readiness to defend the mandate freely given to Tinubu by a majority of Nigerians in the February 25 presidential elections.
This was against the backdrop of widely criticized calls from the candidate of the Labour Party and his running mate, Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed, demanding the suspension of the presidential inauguration scheduled for May 29 over their challenge to Tinubu’s victory.
An APC chieftain from Edo State, Prince John Mayaki, said the solidarity march was staged to “make it clear to the sore losers who have now devoted themselves to the ignoble mission to inflame passion and truncate our democracy with irresponsible calls for the inauguration to be suspended that we are ready to defend the mandate we gave to our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
He slammed the likes of Obi and his running mate who he claimed have failed to learn from their failure at the polls that appeals to divisive and base emotions may help them hug the headlines of disreputable and uncritical platforms, but will never “take them to Aso Rock.”
“Nigerians already passed their verdict on these demagogues on the 25th of February. Our message to them is that they should quit the desperate headless run to overturn that outcome through illegal means, and instead ready themselves for the Tinubu presidency because it is already a reality,” Mayaki said.
“We will strongly resist any attempt by any individual, group, or agent to overturn through the backdoor the declared wishes of Nigerians. There will be no repeat of June 12. Nigerians have learned from that dark episode in our country’s democratic journey and are more than ready to defend their mandate.”
The march was attended by other party leaders, civil rights activists, and representative groups of Nigeria’s civil society organizations and pro-democracy advocacy associations.