Nigerians who protest against Tinubu at White House, APC calls them ‘losers’

Tai Balofin, chairman of the APC United States chapter, says Nigerians should not be disturbed by people protesting the emergence of Bola Tinubu as president-elect in front of the White House.

Mr Balofin, in a statement on Thursday, said the chapter had mobilised “true” Nigerians to come out in support of Mr Tinubu’s mandate.

He expressed optimism that those protesting against Mr Tinubu’s emergence as the president-elect would not succeed in their mission to disrupt the peace and stability of Nigeria.

“We wish to inform the public that a group of the Nigerian 2023 presidential election losers are currently protesting at the park in front of the White House,” said the statement.

It added;

“It is important to note that the US government is not involved or in support of the protest, as anybody can get approval for a peaceful protest. It is our belief that the Nigerian presidential election was free and fair, and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu won the election.”

The statement pointed out that the majority of Nigerian voters gave the former Lagos governor their mandate, and “no propaganda, manipulation or tissue of lies” can stop his inauguration.

“We want to assure Nigerians that Nigeria will not secede, and it will remain united. We must work together to salvage it,” said Mr Balofin and urged Nigerians to remain calm and peaceful.

The APC chieftain in the U.S. stated that justice would prevail and the mandate the people gave Mr Tinubu at the poll would be respected.

INEC fixes April 25 to conclude Ido-Osi Constituency 1 election in Ekiti

INEC has fixed the election for Ido-Osi Constituency 1 in the Ekiti House of Assembly for April 15.

The resident electoral commissioner in the state, Ayobami Salami, announced this in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday while presenting certificates of return to 25 other assembly members elected on March 18.

INEC declared the election in Ido-Osi Constituency 1 inconclusive because of the disruption of the exercise by suspected hoodlums.

Mr Salami noted that the exercise was declared inconclusive in only three polling units in the constituency.

He expressed the preparedness of INEC to conduct a peaceful and hitch-free supplementary election in the polling units on April 15.

He appealed to stakeholders in the constituency to cooperate with the electoral body and with security agencies for a successful conclusion of the process.

“The commission has only three polling units in Ido-Osi Constituency 1, where election was inconclusive. The inconclusive election will be concluded on April 15. We are prepared; we are ready to conduct the election,” stated the INEC chief in Ekiti.

Mr Salami added;

“We appeal to all the stakeholders in Ido-Osi Constituency 1 to please, cooperate with INEC and the security agencies so that the commission can have a successful conclusion of the process. I believe we shall get more support and more collaboration of all stakeholders.”

INEC issues certificates of return to 26 Ondo lawmakers-elect

INEC issued certificates of return to 26 winners of the March 18 Ondo state assembly election in Akure on Thursday.

Twenty-two of the new lawmakers won their elections on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while the other four won on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

INEC’s acting resident electoral commissioner, Oyekola Oyelami, who presented the certificates, claimed that INEC recorded huge success in Ondo.

He charged the new lawmakers to meet the electorate’s expectations in their constituencies.

“As an election management board, we are committed to conducting free, fair, transparent and credible elections. INEC has performed well and will continue to perform well, backed by technological innovations,’’ Mr Oyelami said.

Speaking on behalf of the lawmakers-elect, the majority leader of the assembly, Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, commended INEC and security agencies for ensuring credible elections in Ondo.

He urged the people of Ondo to expect good governance from the 10th assembly.

Twenty-two of the legislators-elect are first-time assembly members, while four are returning for another term of four years.

Supreme Court dismisses ex-minister’s suit against Tinubu, Atiku

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by a former junior education minister Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu of the APC and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP as presidential candidates of their political parties.

The apex court threw out the suit on the grounds that it was statute-barred, having no life to support it and legs to stand upon.

Justice Inyang Okoro, who presided over a five-member panel of justices of the court, dismissed the appeal after the former minister withdrew his case when informed that the case was filed outside the time prescribed by law.

Mr Nwajiuba and a civil group, the Rights for All International, a non-governmental organisation, had asked the Supreme Court to cancel the processes that produced Messrs Tinubu and Abubakar as candidates of their political parties.

He had lost at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal on the same ground that his case lacked merit that could make the court look into it.

Buhari ensured I lost reelection for opposing naira redesign policy, dragging him to Supreme Court- Matawalle

Governor Bello Matawalle has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of punishing him because he opposed his naira redesign policy and joined other governors in filing a suit against him at the Supreme Court.

The Zamfara governor slammed the president for his anti-democratic tendency, accusing him of militarising the March 18 governorship election to ensure that APC did not win in the state, thereby scuttling his reelection.

“And I tell you, they were over 50 soldiers in our polling units in Zamfara. They were even straight about it that those voting for APC would not be allowed to vote. People were harassed and beaten because they wanted to vote for APC,” Mr Matawalle told DW Hausa in a post-election interview.

“We all have this evidence on video. When we called soldiers to come to our aid, they didn’t come. But I have left everything to God.”

Dauda Lawal-Dare of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 377,726 votes from the 14 local government areas to defeat Mr Matawalle, who had 311,976 votes.

The Zamfara governor also slammed Mr Buhari for exhibiting the same vindictiveness towards Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano).

According to the Zamfara governor, the president should be held responsible for the failure of APC candidates in the states to win the gubernatorial elections.

“When I saw that (the soldiers being sent), I knew they were up to something. That was why it didn’t bother me because I received intelligence report on what they were going to do against me. Not only myself but other governors that did something that is considered wrong,” Mr Matawalle explained.

He added;

“Yes, what’s being said is that we went to the court (Supreme Court) over new naira notes redesign. They said myself, Ganduje and El Rufai would be punished accordingly.”

The governor alleged that Mr Buhari ordered the deployment of 300 vehicles filled with soldiers in Zamara three days before the election.

“We have security challenges in Zamfara state, and we’ve been asking them to send soldiers to us, but they didn’t. But three days to the election (gubernatorial), they sent over 300 vehicles conveying soldiers into Zamfara,” Mr Matawalle claimed.

“Such a high number of soldiers. If they could send them to us to fight insecurity, it would be better. But they only sent them during elections.”

The president’s media aides, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, declined to comment on the Zamfara governor’s allegations.

Judge on wheelchair accepted bribes to compromise election petition in new Falz video

Popular rapper, Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana, has released the video of his new single titled ‘Mr Yakubu’ in which he featured Olanrewaju Ogunmefun popularly known as Vector.

The song mirrored a Peoples Gazette exclusive which exposed plans of a secret meeting between President-elect Bola Tinubu and Chief Justice Kayode Ariwoola in London.

Messrs Ariwoola and Tinubu had planned their trips a week apart and had the Supreme Court’s head disguise as a physically challenged man to facilitate the meeting without arousing suspicion from the public.

As characters deliberate over the conduct of the elections in the video, the judge adjudicating election matters was wheeled in into the scene on a wheelchair accurately depicting the pictures of Mr Ariwoola’s London sighting which has now flooded the internet.

Mr Ogunmefun, popularly known as Vector, said that Mr Ariwoola would go down in history as the judge in whose hands the law died, highlighting the judge’s untoward relationship with politicians.

“Who killed the law, who will people ask,” Vector asked rhetorically as the camera pointed towards the judge.Highlighting the possible financial inducements of judicial officers, Falz said the judge had been bribed to maintain Mr Tinubu’s widely disputed electoral victory.

“Thank you my lord, I respect you my lord… since he has paid, you have hurriedly written it [the judgement] and you said he has been elected, they should bring the crown,” he said.

The song also drove home the perceived role of Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the elections.

Mr Yakubu and his commission continue to face fierce public disapproval over the announced results of the election. Several candidates have accused the electoral chairman of conniving with the ruling party and the president-elect to subvert the will of the public by all means, including internal sabotage.

‘Mr Yakubu’ also criticised the poor conduct of the election in which there was a massive failure of the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the suspicious downtime of the electoral commission’s server, thwarting the stipulated rule of uploading results from various polling units to increase transparency.

‘Mr Yakubu’ posits that the election did not reflect the N305 billion – Nigeria’s highest election budget in modern times – that was spent on the exercise.

“Mr Yakubu don’t behave like a fraudster… the 300 billion you collected from the government, what did you do with it?” the song rhetorically asked in its lyrics.

“You wrote fake figures, the portal shut down, and you’re lying to us that somebody hacked it… Mr Yakubu don’t be a fraudster,” it added. Vector criticised the ruling party’s claim that the election was free and fair.

According to him, the impropriety was obvious beyond what anyone could deny. The song also highlighted several factors that were at play during the election season including violence and improper religious, tribal and ethnic divisions which were employed by politicians to secure their bases.

FEC Approves N59.78bn For Ogoni cleanup projects

The Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday. March 29, approved N59.78 billon for the continuation of Ogoni cleanup exercise.

The council also approved two major contracts for the construction of a Centre of Excellence for environmental restoration Wiiyaakara in Kana council area of Rivers State and a 100-bed specialist hospital in Ogoni.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, said the projects were to facilitate efficient and cost-effective approaches to contamination management and environmental restoration while supporting the well-being and welfare of the people who had been impacted by the negative effects of contamination in those areas.

He said;

“On behalf of the Ministry of Environment, HYPREP Project Office, I presented two memos one for the award of contract for the construction of Centre of Excellence for environmental restoration at Wiiyaakara, Bori in, in Khana local government area of River State, in favour of CCECC Nigeria Limited, in the sum of N41,472,263,848.60, with a completion period of 24 months.

“The second memo, which is equally approved, which is also in line with the UNEP Report on the level components, is the contract for the construction of Ogoni 100-bed specialist hospital in favour of Messrs Tannit Medical Engineering Limited, in the sum of N18,308,463,225.37, plus 7.5% of VAT, with a delivery period of 24 months.”

Name and arrest those plotting an interim govt – IPAC chairman tells DSS

The Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yabagi Sani, has asked the Department of State Service (DSS) to name and apprehend those it said are behind plans to install an interim government in the country.

On Wednesday, March 29, the DSS issued a statement saying it had discovered a plot by “misguided” political actors to set aside the constitution and install an interim government in the country as the May 29 date for the takeover of the new government approaches.

However, speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, Sani who is also the chairman of the African Development Party (ADP) said it is not enough for the DSS to announce a plot for the interim government but that the security agency should go further to name the plotters as well as take action against them.

“To say the least, it is an embarrassment because I believe that the DSS, the agency that is in charge of gathering intelligence and then passing intelligence to other agencies, are supposed to take action.

And I don’t think it serves the purpose of this country for the DSS to come and make this pronouncement in the manner they are making it. What would have made sense to us is that so person is involved, so person has been arrested or is under interrogation or whatever action has been taken. Okay, what do we do as politicians or citizens of this country? We can’t do nothing” Sani said

He said that law enforcement agencies should not fail to demonstrate that nobody is above the law as this will serve as a deterrent to others who might have other plans to scuttle democracy in the country.

“Look at what happened in the United States when (Donald) Trump wanted to interrupt the inauguration of (Joe) Biden, something happened, they took action. So, I believe as much as we commend the effort of the DSS, I think they should go beyond that because as citizens what can we do?” he queried

Atiku Abubakar asked that we deepen our engagement with LP – PDP Chieftain Osita Chidoka

Osita Chidoka, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has urged his party members to deepen engagement with the Labour Party (LP).

Mr Chidoka, a former Aviation Minister, shared photos he took while meeting with the Labour Party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi after his meeting with Atiku on Wednesday, March 29.

He wrote in the caption:

“At 8 am today I met with Atiku Abubakar and he asked that we deepen our engagement with LP. “At 6pm I met with my brother Peter Obi at his campaign office where he has been since 8am and still plan to be till 10pm. “Interesting how the erstwhile candidates are out and about pursuing their goals towards a better Nigeria.”

Chidoka did not disclose the details of the engagement. Atiku came second in the February 25 elections while the presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, who defected from the PDP, came third.

Both PDP and LP are challenging the outcome of the February 25 election at the Presidential Election Petition Court.

Some ‘key players’ are plotting to install Interim Government in Nigeria – DSS

The Department of State Services (DSS) said it has uncovered a plot by some “key political players” to halt the inauguration of the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, and foist an Interim Government in Nigeria.

DSS spokesman, Dr. Peter Afunanya, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, stated that some persons have weighed various options, which include foisting interim government after obtaining frivolous court injunctions to forestall the inauguration of new executive administrations and legislative houses at the Federal and State levels.

“The Department of State Services (DSS) has identified some key players in the plot for an Interim Government in Nigeria,” the statement read.

“The Service considers the plot, being pursued by these entrenched interests, as not only an aberration but a mischievous way to set aside the constitution and undermine civil rule as well as plunge the country into an avoidable crisis”

“The illegality is totally unacceptable in a democracy and to the peace loving Nigerians. This is even more so that the machination is taking place after the peaceful conduct of the elections in most parts of the country,”

Afunanya said such persons were also considering sponsoring endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of State of Emergency.

“The planners, in their many meetings, have weighed various option, which include, among others, to sponsor endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of State of Emergency”

“Another is to obtain frivolous court injunctions to forestall the inauguration of new executive administration and legislative houses at the Federal and State levels”

“The DSS supports the President and Commander-in-Chief in his avowed commitment to a hitch-free handover and will assiduously work in this direction”

“It also supports the Presidential Transition Council and other such related bodies in the State. It will collaborate with them and sister security and law enforcement agencies to ensure seamless inaugurations comes 29th May, 2023”

“Consequently, the Service strongly warns those organising to thwart democracy in the country to retract from their devious schemes and orchestrations.”

“Stakeholders, notably judicial authorities, media and the Civil Society, are enjoined to be watchful and cautious to avoid being used as instruments to subvert peace and stability of the nation”

“While its monitoring continues, the DSS will not hesitate to take decisive and necessary legal steps against these misguided elements to frustrate their obnoxious intentions,” the Service said.

Makinde, Oyo Assembly members-elect receive certificates of return

On Wednesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oyo State issued a certificate of return to Governor Seyi Makinde, who emerged winner of the governorship election held on March 18.

The event, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, also witnessed the presentation of certificates of return to 32 newly elected House of Assembly members.

Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner in charge of Oyo, Ekiti and Lagos, supervised the presentation of the certificates.

In his remarks, Mr Olumekun said the commission would continue to conduct free and credible elections in the country regardless of any odds encountered.

He attributed the general election’s success to early preparations immediately after the 2019 general elections.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Oyo State, Adeniran Tella, reassured all stakeholders in the electioneering process that INEC was poised to build on the high level of credibility it has achieved so far by deploying the use of technology into our electoral process.

“This further confirms the commission’s determination and commitment to becoming one of the best election management bodies in the world that will meet the aspiration of the people.”

Mr Tella appealed to the governor-elect, his deputy and all the 32 state House of Assembly elected members to be magnanimous in victory.

He urged them to use the renewed mandates to serve the people diligently and truthfully.

Mr Makinde, in his remarks, promised to take the state from poverty to prosperity and dedicated his election victory to the people of Oyo State.

Political associates of the governor, government appointees, traditional rulers, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) members, and religious leaders, among others, attended the event.

Buhari swears in ex-IGP Arase as PSC chairman

Former Inspector-General of Police, Dr Solomon Arase (retd.) was on Wednesday morning, March 29, sworn in as Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC).

The swearing in ceremony, which coincided with that of five members of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), took place before the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

The ceremonies were held in the Executive Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Former IGP Arase took over as Chairman of the PSC, following the resignation of another former Inspector-General of Police, Musiliu Smith, who was reported to have been advised by the PSC Board to resign in September 2022.

Arase, 65, who retired in 2016, was the 18th indigenous Inspector-General of Police (between April 2015 and June 2016) and has served in various capacities including as head of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau, the foremost intelligence-gathering unit of the Nigerian police.

The President also swore-in five board members of the Code of Conduct Bureau. They include Murtala Kankia from Katsina State (North-West); Zephaniah Bulus from Nasarawa State (North Central) and Farouk Umar from Yobe State (North East), Taofeek Abdulsalam from Ondo State (South West) and Prof. Juwaria Badamasi from Kogi State (North Central).

LP to refund N25m nomination fee to late Imo governorship aspirant

National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has said the party will be refunding the N25 million nomination fee paid by late governorship aspirant of the party in Imo State, Humphrey Anumudu, to his family.

Anumudu had purchased the party’s form to contest the LP primary ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Imo State but died last week.

Abure who spoke on Tuesday, March 28, said the party decided to return the nomination fee to the family of the deceased to show empathy and compassion.

He said;

“You will recall that one of our aspirants in Imo State lost his life. I am pleased to announce to members of the public and members of the Labour Party family and his immediate family that the party will refund the nomination fee of N25 million that he spent.

“We feel that we need to do this the support the family and show leadership of compassion, of empathy and that is whet the Labour Party stands for.”

PDP wins 22 Bauchi assembly seats, APC 8, NNPP 1

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won 22 out of the 31 Bauchi House of Assembly seats in the March 18 state parliamentary elections.

This is contained in the list issued by Aliyu Shaba, INEC’s deputy director of voter education in Bauchi, on Tuesday.

The list also showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won eight seats while the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) clinched one in the state.

In the results announced by the INEC, the constituencies are Duguri Gwana, Abdullahi Dan-Bala – PDP; Kirfi, Umar Habibu – PDP; Bauchi – Jamilu Dahiri – PDP; Zungur Galambi, Yusuf Ahmed – PDP, Dass, Abdullahi Ahmed – PDP, and Bogoro, Musa Nakwada – PDP.

Others are Lame Toro, Lawal Garba – PDP; Toro Jama’a, Saidu Hamza – PDP; Ningi, Abubakar Sulaiman – PDP; Ningi Bura, Tanko Bura – PDP; Hardawa Misau, Babayo Akuyam – PDP; and Dambam Dagauda Jalam, Mohammed Garba – PDP.

The PDP also won Ganjuwa East, Ladan Mohammed; Ganjuwa West, Adamu Kawu; Katagum Zaki, Bello Maiwa; Sakwa Zaki, Wanzam Mohammed; and Itas Gadau, Abdullahi Yusuf.

Similarly, the Disina Shira constituency was won by Hodi Jibir – PDP; Shira, Hassan Auwal – PDP; Giade, Adamu Abubakar – PDP; Madara Chinade, Katagum, Ala Ahmed – PDP, and Gamawa, Sarkin-Jadori Bello – PDP.

The APC won Azare Madangala Katagum, Saleh Zakariyya; Udubo Gamawa, Lele Mohammed; Pali Alkaleri, Garba Aminu; and Darazo, Sulaiman Darazo.

Dauda Lawal of APC also won the Sade Darazo state constituency; APC’s Yahaya Maikudi for Chiroma Misau; Abdul Rishi for Lame Toro – APC; and Abdulrasheed Adamu for Lere Bula – APC, while Mubarak Haruna of NNPP won in Jama’are constituency.

The Ninth Assembly has no female members.

Senate approves 10 additional national parks for Nigeria

The Senate on Tuesday approved the establishment of 10 additional national parks in the country.

This followed the adoption of a motion on the National Park declaration Order 22, sponsored by Gobir Abdullahi (APC-Sokoto) at the plenary.

Presenting the motion, Mr Abdullahi said President Muhammadu Buhari wrote to the Senate on November 16, 2022, requesting the concurrence of the Senate to the National Park declaration Order 2022, in consonance with section 18 of the National Park Service Act 2004.

He said the national park declaration order sought to establish 10 additional national parks based on due feasibility studies and environmental impact assessment in 12 selected forests and game reserves in various states.

Mr Abdullahi listed the parks as Alawa National Park, Niger State; Apoi National Park, Bayelsa State; Edumenun National Park, Bayelsa State; Galgore National Park, Kano State; and Hadejia Wetland National Park, Jigawa State.

Others were Kempe National Park, Kwara State; Kogo National Park, Kastina State; Marhi National Park, Nasarawa State; Oba Hill National Park, Osun State; and Pandam National Park, Plateau state.

He said the additional parks were necessary to regulate Nigeria’s unique ecosystem, particularly the fauna and flora ecosystems.

“The establishment will address the fast rate of disappearance and degradation of Nigeria’s forest, achieve and develop adequate tourism infrastructure in line with international best practices,” he said.

He said the establishments would help protect and preserve Nigeria’s biodiversity and natural heritage.

Mr Abdullahi said section 18 of the National Park Service Act 2004 as amended provided for the concurrent of the National Assembly.

Aggrieved women strip to their innerwear outside US embassy to protest outcome of 2023 presidential election

A group of women on Monday, March 27, protested in front of the United States Embassy in Abuja over the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

The women, who are members of the Free Nigeria Movement, were at the US Embassy to report the alleged fraud that happened during the 2023 polls.

Some of the women stripped to their innerwear during the protest.

They had placards inscribed with messages expressing their grievances.

The protesters called on the US Government to place a visa ban on the instigators of violence during the poll.

This comes barely one month after Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared winner of the February 25 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral, INEC.

Tinubu was declared winner of the 2023 polls. His closest challengers, candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party have since petitioned the Election Tribunal to seek redress.

Supplementary elections to hold April 15

The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed April 15 for the conduct of all outstanding governorship, National and State Assembly supplementary elections.

This was made known by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi on Monday.

Oyekanmi said, “Arising from its meeting held today, the Independent National Electoral Commission has decided that all outstanding governorship, National and State Assembly supplementary elections will take place on Saturday 15th April 2023.

Court Remands Agba Jalingo In Jail For Cybercrime

Agba Jalingo, a Nigerian journalist on trial for treason, has been remanded in Kuje prison from Monday till Thursday.

A judge in the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice Zainab Bage Abubakar remanded journalist Agba Jalingo to Kuje prison for cybercrime.

According to Politics Nigeria, Justice Abubakar allegedly denied Jalingo’s lawyers the opportunity to move a motion for bail after he was arraigned for cyberstalking.

Jalingo was accused of defaming Elizabeth Ayade, the wife of Frank Ayade, who is a brother of Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade. He was remanded to Kuje prison until Thursday.

Jalingo, the publisher of CrossRiverWatch, was arrested on August 22, 2019, over a report alleging that Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, diverted N500 million belonging to the state.

Governor Adeleke claims Oyetola has not congratulated him

The Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has said that the immediate past governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, has not congratulated him after his victory at the Appeal Court.

Adeleke who said he was open to working with the former governor said he had yet to hear from Oyetola.The governor said this when he featured on Arise TV Morning Show on Monday.

“Immediately after the news of the Appeal Court (judgement), I tried to reach out, I called him – the former Governor Oyetola – to let us forge ahead to move Osun forward, but up till now, he has not called me to congratulate me and I’m still hoping that he will do that because we don’t have any other state than Osun State here. So, I’m ready, my hands are open, let’s come together and move Osun State forward,” Adeleke said.

When asked what he would like to say to Oyetola, Adeleke made a U-turn on reaching out to Oyetola, saying he never called the former governor.

“Well let me correct it, I did not say I put a call to him, what I said is I’m still expecting him to call me so that he can congratulate me, and if he wants to do otherwise and go ahead to the Supreme Court, he has the right to do that,” the governor said.He reiterated that he would like to work with Oyetola.

The governor also said he was not afraid of the Supreme Court, saying he had his people and God on his side.

APC supporters protest in Abuja to demand congratulatory messages for President-elect Tinubu

Supporters of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress have called for a demonstration in Abuja on Monday.

Billed to defend the mandate of the party’s leader and president-elect, Bola Tinubu, the protesters said the failure or refusal to congratulate a new Nigerian leader could continue to fuel doubts over his mandate.

Suleiman Raji, one of the organisers who said he came in from Ilorin to attend the protest, said it was to condemn those who have been silent because their action or inaction could put Mr Tinubu’s mandate in jeopardy.

“They are refusing to congratulate him and that is why we keep seeing people coming with all manner of attacks on the president-elect,” Mr Raji said on Monday morning.

“It is very wrong because he was elected by Nigerians in a free and fair campaign.”John Onaiyekan, a frontline Christian leader in Nigeria, President Joe Biden of the United States and several other religious and political leaders in Nigeria and beyond appeared to have withheld congratulatory messages to Mr Tinubu.

Mr Tinubu was declared winner of Nigeria’s February 25, 2023, presidential election in a race that pitted him against three formidable challengers.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party came second, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third. Both politicians are now challenging Mr Tinubu’s emergence as president-elect, alleging Mr Tinubu’s ineligibility and irregularities in the conduct of the exercise.

While Mr Onaiyekan has publicly disclosed his reasons for withholding any messages to Mr Tinubu, Mr Biden’s office has yet to state any grounds for its decision.

Although the U.S. State Department congratulated Mr Tinubu, the president-elect’s supporters said a message from the White House would remove any doubts about the U.S. leader’s acceptance of the new Nigerian leader.

In 2015, President Barack Obama congratulated Muhammadu Buhari on his election in that year’s election.

“We have to defend the mandate freely given to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu because it is the right thing to do,” another protester Sherifat Yusuf said.

“We cannot sit down and allow them to rob us of a mandate that was freely given to Asiwaju.”

The protesters said they would make their demands regularly until Mr Tinubu is sworn in on May 29.

“Their silence is very loud at this sensitive period because people out there are thinking that something bad may happen to this new government,” Ms Yusuf said while on her way to the Unity Fountain venue of the rally.

“We have to show support to Asiwaju until he is successfully sworn in as president to take our country to the next level.”