Politics
NO fewer than 500 Niger Delta youths, under the auspices of Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front, on Thursday, marched the streets of Abuja to show support for President Bola Tinubu’s victory at the Feb. 25 presidential election.
The Founder of the group, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, represented by his Coordinator, Ekiyor-Zua Boma-Daniels, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview that they were in Abuja “to show solidarity to the mandate they voted for.”
“We have been on ground since the inception of the electoral tribunal; at every sitting, we have been on ground and today, we are still here.
“We are here to show solidarity to the mandate that we voted for in the past general elections.
“We noticed that while at the electoral tribunal that some other persons that were sympathetic to other candidates had come to the tribunal premises to disrupt proceedings and harass judges and VIPs.
“So that prompted us to come to show solidarity and to let other people understand that civil disobedience doesn’t mean violence.
“You can be a law abiding citizens, you can show solidarity to whoever you are interested in or preferred candidates but don’t go beyond the provisions of the law.
“So that is why we are here. We have been here for four months violent-free, well-behaved and today seems to be the grand finale because the Supreme Court has said that they will give final judgment in the case,” he said.
Dokubo said whichever way the pendulum of the judgment swings would be welcomed.
“Be that as it may, if it favours us or against us, we don’t have any problem with that because we cannot teach the judiciary what to do.
“Everybody should be law abiding citizen. They (judges) are mandated by the constitution of Nigeria to give a verdict and whichever way the verdict goes, it is in the hand of God,” he said.
He, however, expressed hope that Tinubu’s victory would be affirmed by the apex court.
“We are very hopeful. We came all the way from Niger Delta to this place.
“We are 500 of us in this place and we know that massively we campaigned, massively we we mobilised, massively we voted for that mandate that was declared by INEC.
“And we know that court gives judgment based on the evidence before them and we are 100 per cent sure that the evidence of the process of the law that convinced INEC to announce that results will be reflected in the tribunal and the justices and uphold that same mandate and victory,” he said.
NAN reports that members of the group, who dressed in black and red attire, sang different solidarity songs in Tinubu’s support.
The group, with various placards with inscriptions like: “President Tinubu loves the Niger Delta,” “Stop Living in Illusion, President Tinubu is the Choice of the Majority,” “The Office of the Citizen is Supreme,” “The Citizens have Spoken,” “On Tinubu’s Mandate We the Citizens Stand,” among others, danced around the interception of Shehu Shagari Way and Independence Avenue by the office of the Head of Service, Federal Secretariat.
NAN !reports that the Supreme Court had fixed today for judgment in the appeals filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP)’s counterpart, Mr Peter Obi.
The duo and their parties had lodged appeals challenging the Sept. 6 ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that upheld Tinubu’s electoral victory.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Tinubu the winner of the Feb. 25 presidential poll after he defeated Atiku, Obi and 16 others.(NAN)
T
October 26, 2023 @ 16:50 GMT|
Tags: Alhaji Asari Dokubo Ekiyor-Zua Boma-Daniels
