An All Progressives Congress (APC) group under the guise of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CCSO) for the Tinubu/Shettima 2023 presidential election has appealed to the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, to without further hesitation, withdraw their case against President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
Both Obi and Atiku are in court challenging the declaration of the APC presidential candidate as the winner of the February 25th presidential election.
While the cases against the APC candidate are still being heard at the court, CCSO National Coordinator, Lilian Ogbole, said on Thursday that since Tinubu was already fulfilling the desires of the other candidates, there was no need to continue the case in court.
Ogbole, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja today, said the call to withdraw the case became imperative because the Tinubu-led administration has shown that it is ready to work assiduously to install peace, development, and progress in Nigeria.
Ogbole noted that it was no news that well-meaning Nigerians all over the world and the international community at large are applauding and giving the president ovations for his decisiveness in tackling and containing serious national issues and the transformational reforms and socio-economic policies and initiatives he has brought to the table in less than 30 days in office.
She stressed that the bold steps are gradually resulting in accelerated relief and reassurance of hope in the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda for not just Nigerians but the entire African continent.
Ogbole added that as stakeholders in the Nigerian project, they deemed it imperative to call on all selfless, well-meaning Nigerians and patriots across party lines to shield their swords and embrace this transformational government of national unity and all-inclusiveness.
The group added: “We resolved to say unequivocally loud and clear, here and now, that the victory in the last presidential election is a victory for all Nigerians regardless of their political affiliation and alignment, religion, or tribe; it is indeed a victory for Africa, the entire black race, and of course a victory for the entire world and humanity at large; it was a no victor, no vanquish election.
“President Bola Tinubu’s government has thus far proved beyond every reasonable doubt to be transformational in nature with huge potential to reunite, revitalize, renew and reposition Nigeria for a breakthrough to an uninterrupted era of progress and prosperity, hence the need for all hands to be on deck.
“Even though we are aware that it is the fundamental right of all aggrieved candidates to seek for redress in the court of law, in the national interest, we wish to use this avenue to crave the indulgence of all aggrieved candidates who are seeking redress in the tribunal to withdraw their litigations against the president and join hands with him in the proposed national unity and all-inclusive government.”
The coalition noted that it was certain that the priority of all candidates of other political parties was to do the same selflessly in the national interest, and since Tinubu was playing out their intentions, they could and should go a step further to synergize with him to achieve the same patriotic purpose.
The coalition stressed that this was the only way to prove to the world that their struggles are not personal and selfish but rather in the national interest and quest to restore the dignity of man through the initiation and implementation of people-friendly policies and programs.
It further urged all elder statesmen across the country to invite all aggrieved parties to a roundtable meeting and appeal to them not to subvert the will of the people through distractions but join hands with the government that was willingly elected by Nigerians to change their story.
