Supporters of Bola Tinubu who won the just-concluded presidential election under the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu have stormed the Federal Capital to defend his mandate.
According to one of the organizers, Suleiman Raji, the demonstration was to condemn those who have been silent about the victory as 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.”
A foremost Christian leader in Nigeria, John Onaiyekan said that the American President, Joe Biden and several other religious and political leaders in Nigeria and beyond who have withheld congratulatory messages to Tinubu fuels doubt on the U.S. leader’s acceptance of the new Nigerian leader.
He said: “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.”