*Tinubu’s swearing-in won’t stop us from reclaiming stolen mandate, LP vows
Emameh Gabriel in Abuja
Ahead of today’s inauguration, Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has once again expressed disatisfaction with the conduct and outcome of the February 25 presidential election, which he is currently challenging in court.
Obi has also raised the alarm over a sinister move by some persons in government to drag his image to the mud as part of what he described as a well-orchestrated strategy to weaken his support base and throw his supporters into confusion.
This was as the leadership of the Labour Party, has said the inauguration of Tinubu notwithstanding, the party would still retrieve its stolen mandate.
The former Anambra State governor, who lamented the current declining state of the country in all facets, said things must not continue the way there were, assuring his supporters not to be detterd as there was a greater future ahead.
Obi, in a statement, called on Nigerians to re-examine their assumptions and hopes in a moment in time he said the people must collectively come to grips with the reality of “our injured destiny as well as the reasons for that injury. It is for us to reassess our plight as a young democracy and identify clear pathways to a better and greater future for us all.
“The conduct and outcome of the last National elections have showcased the troubled state of our democracy. While a minority, indeed a handful of partisans, seem satisfied with the conduct of the election and the results, the majority of Nigerian voters and many international observers remain confounded by the process and the outcome. Serious reservations have been expressed by a significant majority of stakeholders about the shortcomings of the elections. But it is not for anyone to take the laws into his hands.
“As we await the verdict of the election tribunal, I urge all Nigerians to use this opportunity to renew their commitment to the Nigerian ideal. That ideal remains noble and worth every sacrifice we can make. Nigeria remains our only patrimony and it is a patrimony we must protect, rather than violate. We have no other nation but this, so let us remain committed to rescuing and rebuilding it.”
Obi, who has continued to expressed confidence in the judiciary, described the institution as a critical part of the democratic enterprise and a critical governance tool for determining the propriety of the decisions and actions of every citizen and every institution of state, saying the judiciary should be treated with the respect and dignity it deserves.
“We expect that the Nigerian judiciary will use the election cases now before it to reaffirm its independence and integrity. It has to do so, for all our sakes and for itself. Nigerians must, therefore, remain peaceful and law-abiding. No matter the depth of anyone’s reservations about what is going on in the polity today, no matter the real and imagined provocations, and no matter the disagreement out there, we should remember that this will not last forever,” he said.
He, however, seized the opportunity to disclose the knowledge of an alleged plot to set him up and disperse his supporters by people in government but has vowed not to be intimidated by such desperate politics.
“I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity. These schemes will aim at degrading our support base and confusing the public.
“But, no evil campaign will alter the substance of my character or diminish my patriotic commitment to a better Nigeria. It is not about me. It is about a better Nigeria. It is about the future of our youths. It is about ending the Years of Locust,” he said.
Meanwhile, the LP leadership has called on its supporters to continue to express their passions, emotions and frustrations, within the confines of the law, assuring them that there was no doubt that in the fullness of time as long as they know the truth and were prepared to keep standing by the truth, Justice shall prevail.
Labour Party further assured that Nigeria would regain the chance for a new direction, love and trust among the people and true national growth.
In a statement signed by its National Chairman, Julius Abure, the party expressed disappointment that despite the pains the citizens went through during the voting process to vote candidates of their choice and the reports of violence, malfunctioning electoral devices, yet a dark cloud engulfed the nation as the original results from the election were criminally withheld, contrary to specifications of the law and contrary to repeated emphasis, directives and promises to the nation and its citizens, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Abure said, “This deliberate act of criminal conspiracy, was the beginning of the most bizarre and crazy rigging of elections in our National history. As voting concluded, Party Officials, especially from the ruling APC, invaded collation centres nationwide, disrupting the process, inducing and intimidating officials. Manually alteration and
mutilation of result sheets.
“All over the country, the pattern of this electoral criminality was consistent – votes lawfully cast for the Labour Party candidate, were changed and reduced, and added to increase votes casted for the Presidential Candidate of the APC.
“This not only formed the basis for the flagrant declarations of results at various levels in many parts of the country, totally at variance with the freely expressed wishes of the people, but also the basis for the proposed inauguration of the Candidate of the APC, as the President of Nigeria,” he lamented.
He however promised that as a law abiding and responsible Political Party, and conscious of the overwhelming support the party enjoyed across the country, Labour Party “will not comment further” till justice is done at the Election Petition Tribunal.
