Former NBA president Agbakoba urges Nigerians to shun those calling for interim government

FORMER Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) chairman Olisa Agbakoba has urged Nigerians to resist attempts by disaffected individuals who are unhappy with the outcome of the last general elections and have thus begun plotting to form an interim government in response.

On Saturday February 25, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new president and the Independent National Election Commission (Inec) subsequently declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner. Among the other main gladiators in the contest were Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party and former Kano State governor Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).

Inec chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who served as the returning officer for the presidential election, declared Asiwaju Tinubu the victor of the contest with 8,794,726 votes, defeating Alhaji Abubakar of the PDP, who came second with 6,984,520 votes and Governor Obi who came third with 6,101,533 votes. However, the PDP and Labour Party have refused to accept the results.

With the political temperature very high at the moment, Festus Keyamo, the minister of state for labour and employment and APC presidential campaign spokesman, warned the PDP and Labour Party presidential candidates against taking to the streets while also pursuing their cases in court. He then issued a statement on behalf of Asiwaju Tinubu, noting that those who have taken to the streets protesting against his mandate are fixated on having an interim national government.

Mr Agbakoba has added his voice to the debate, saying all Nigerians should refute the interim government unequivocally because it is unconstitutional. He said Nigeria’s security agencies should punish plotters of an interim government who are intending  to truncate the nation’s democratic process.

He added that despite the challenging circumstances experienced in last month’s presidential election, the president-elect’s emergence should be respected pending the election tribunal decision on claims of irregularities. Mr Agbakoba said:  “We must all reject this nonsense and respect our constitution, which has no provision for interim arrangements.

“All leading presidential candidates have approached the courts with grounds of complaint concerning what they consider as electoral irregularities. If the presidential candidates have accepted the democratic process by lodging petitions before the courts, then it is challenging to understand upon what basis anyone considers that an interim government is a viable and legal alternative."