President Buhari has said that the declaration of APC Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu as President-elect stands and that anyone who is aggrieved with the outcome of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election, should proceed to the court, if they have the locus to do so.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement issued on Thursday, March 9, titled “At the 5th United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries, LDCs”, disclosed that President Buhari is against any plans to annul the elections which many have said was characterized by irregularities.
According to Garba, President Buhari has said that he will not allow June 12, 1993, saga to repeat itself. He pointed out that before the President’s trip to Doha for the UN Conference, there were calls for the cancellation of the elections but that he had always maintained that the outcome of the election will be accepted by his government and must stand.
“In addition to other things, this trip, more than any other, speaks to the courage, political stamina and statesmanship with which the President has managed the affairs of the nation. Before the trip, he was faced with orchestrated attempts to poison public opinion against national institutions, particularly the presidential election and its conduct by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as an institution, against which vile and unsubstantiated allegations were hurled.
The clear intent of this was creating an atmosphere of fear, polarising the public and demonising the administration of the President. The wishful thinkers appeared to assume that the June 12, 1993, election crisis, the worst ever since the civil war could be recreated.
Those who sought to do this forgot what the President said at the palace of the Gbong-Gwon Jos, when he went to the city to inaugurate the Tinubu-Shettima campaign: “this election will not be annulled; whoever is the winner will be president.
President Buhari not only muted himself, following the cacophony, he picked up international travel: Bola Tinubu’s election stands. If you are aggrieved, and you have the locus to do so, go to court. President Buhari used the opportunity of the visit to speak to his guests about the recent election in Nigeria and the fact that a new President would be taking over in less than three months.
He expressed hope that the strong relations he had built between those countries will continue to endure in the new administration.”