A group of pro-government activists, the Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiatives, has called on the opposition leaders, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, to accept the Supreme Court verdict that affirmed the re-election of President Bola Tinubu and to remain in the country to contribute to its development.
The coalition made this call on Thursday at a rally in front of the Eagle Square in Abuja, where they celebrated Tinubu’s victory and praised his achievements.
The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed the appeals of Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), who challenged Tinubu’s victory in the February 2023 presidential election.
The seven-man panel of justices, led by John Okoro, rejected Atiku’s application to present Tinubu’s credentials obtained from Chicago State University as evidence supporting his claim that the president forged the document submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Speaking to journalists after the judgment, the National Coordinator of the coalition, Okpokwu Ogenyi, commended the Supreme Court for upholding Tinubu’s mandate and urged Atiku and Obi not to leave the country in frustration but to work with the president to move the country forward.
He said, “To the National Chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), His Excellency Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, you have done well. Within your few months in office, the APC is winning from all angles; your resilience in repositioning the party has added value to our democracy and has thus contributed, in no small measure, to the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.”
He added, “The coalition wishes to call on all those who participated in the last presidential election to join the new Nigeria of our dream, an egalitarian nation where peace and justice shall reign. We specifically single out the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, not to abandon Nigeria. It is our opinion that they should stay back and contribute meaningfully to the project in Nigeria.”