Ohanaeze Ndigbo says calls for interim government are satanic and unconstitutional

PAN-Igbo socio-cultural organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo has vowed to support Nigeria's president-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu condemning recent calls for his election to be annulled and an interim government instituted as satanic and unconstitutional.

On Saturday February 25, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new president and the Independent National Election Commission (Inec) subsequently declared Asiwaju 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.

Several leading opposition figures led by Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party's vice presidential candidate, who felt the elections were not free and fair, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to annul them. man7 have also demanded that an interim national government be instituted on May 29 rather than have Asiwaju Tinubu sworn-in as president.

Condemning such calls, Ohanaeze Ndigbo's general secretary, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said they would never be part of such an evil in Nigeria. He urged the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest those behind the clamour for an interim government.

Mazi Isiguzoro said: “Ndigbo will never be part of any interim government and the DSS should arrest those behind the scene plotting to have an interim government. Ohanaeze challenges the DSS to arrest those who are the proponent of the interim government to ensure that unpatriotic elements of doom do not derail our democracy with the evil intent to stall the smooth transition of power from Buhari to Tinubu.

“Ndigbo will not recognise any interim government or be part of any evil scheme and clamour for an interim government. The clamour for an interim government is unconstitutional, satanic and demonic and those behind the call are trying to plunge the country into an unavoidable crisis and make Ndigbo a scapegoat, as witnessed in 1993.

“Ndigbo will participate in the inauguration and swearing-in ceremony of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu and we caution those working behind the scene for an illegitimate government, to use the court to express their grievances. We are happy that Atiku and Peter Obi have exploited the legal options in order to recover their legal mandate and we will not allow unpatriotic mortals to truncate the hard-earned democracy in Nigeria.

Lamenting that Igbos have become endangered species, Mazi Isiguzoro said Ndigbo would not allow themselves to be used as sacrificial lamb. He noted that those plotting interim government have set the stage by the systemic burning of Igbo properties.

He added: “Ndigbo are an endangered species in Nigeria and never again will Igbos be used as a sacrificial lamb as they were used in 1993 during the Abiola saga, where a lot of Igbos were killed, bullied and maimed. The proponents of the interim government are already setting the stage with the systematic burning of Igbo-populated markets in Lagos, the home of the president-elect and a market was also burnt in Borno, the home of the vice president-elect.

“These are capsules that can never stand the order of the day as Igbos are wiser and more sophisticated now than they were in 1993. We will continue to support the president-elect and ask him to commence the healing process from the southeast.”