Olatunde Awonuga Foundation (OLAF) has condemned the call for composition of Interim National Government (ING).
The foundation described those behind the call after a peaceful and highly contested presidential poll as “disgruntled and unpatriotic elements.”
OLAF’s founder, Olatunde Awonuga, Ogun State deputy-governorship candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), said: “We denounce this brazen attempt by a few self-serving individuals to supplant our country’s democratic process through their demand for the composition of an interim national government – a call which has all the trappings of plunging our dear nation into dangers of existential proportions.
“While it is natural to be aggrieved in the aftermath of losing an election especially of this magnitude, we refer the aggrieved parties to the wisdom of the framers of our constitution which provided for a legal way of seeking redress through the courts of law in cases of this type. We, therefore, encourage such aggrieved persons to take to the legal path to challenge any infractions they thought may have arisen in the course of the election, rather than seeking to truncate a process that has been adjudged free, fair and credible by both local and international observer missions.
“We consider the agitation elicited by the hideous kite of ING as inherently dangerous and a huge disservice to the steady gains of democratic consolidation in the 24 years of our return to civil democratic rule. We consider the demand for ING as calculated attempts to undermine the hard won freedom by Nigerians who fought and resisted the usurpation of citizens’ rights to elect government through the ballot box rather than the barrel of the gun. We therefore join well-meaning platforms at both domestic and international levels to condemn this sinister agenda of ING and its promoters.”
According to Awonuga, the call for ING constitutes an ominous red-flag which demands eternal vigilance from Nigerians and all genuine lovers of democracy across the world.
“We at OLAF urge Nigerians to remain vigilant and resolute in expressing absolute faith in the democratic process which has returned a President-elect due to be sworn-in on May 29. We charge Nigerians not to let down their guard in demanding that the electoral process be allowed to run its full course at the judiciary where legitimate grievances over any electoral outcome should be channelled.
“On a final note, OLAF salutes Nigerians for the overwhelming condemnation of the retrogressive ING kite which is obviously the handiwork of discontented and mischievous elements, who are bent on scuttling the steady democratic journey that began on May 29 following the epic struggle to reclaim the June 12, 1993 presidential mandate.”