A group of protesters under the aegis of The Natives has warned the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party LP, Mr Peter Obi, against intimidating judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC over their grievances regarding the outcome of the presidential election.
The Natives was reacting to the various protests against the outcome of the presidential election which saw Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress APC emerge as President-elect.
Both candidates of the PDP and the LP have rejected the results, accusing INEC of manipulation, even as protests were taken to the INEC headquarters.
But protesting what they tagged intimidation of INEC and the Judiciary during a “Thank You Walk” to the Presidential Villa on Monday in Abuja, The Natives in their numbers, led by its Supreme Leader, Hon. Smart Edwards, said supporters of APC and Tinubu will no longer take lightly the intimidation by the supporters of Peter Obi (Obidients) and supporters of the Atiku Abubakar (Atikulators).
The rally which had representatives of National Association of the Nigeria Students NANS and other various youths groups in attendance temporarily paralyzed movement of vehicles from the Federal Secretariat to the Presidential Villa on Monday.
Edwards who described PDP as a national rigging organization, said; “The Obidients should understand that Asiwaju is a political juggernaut and election strategist. They were all part of the plan because the candidature of Peter Obi was an asset to the APC. The Obidients made Tinubu’s victory easy, they all made it possible. Ordinarily, it should have been Obi or Tinubu.
Tinubu was not in the best position to steal the election but he planned well and worked vigorously for the victory.
“We also have a message for the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Your Excellency, it is your time to test the courts and not to intimidate the courts. It is your time to retreat and retire, or reset and re-contest again if your party is not tired of you.
“Your inability to be consistent in a party like Bola Ahmed Tinubu, shows it is all about you alone. No sir, the Supreme Court is not about you, the Appeal Court is not about you, even the Tribunal is not about you, it is about the rule of law.
“So, today we are putting the nation on notice that no one will be allowed to intimidate the Nigerian Judiciary any longer, we will not entertain it. These judges and the judiciary are the most crucial part of the hope that democracy holds.
“We want to say categorically that Bola Ahmed Tinubu of APC won the election. The Lagos state he lost should have been a taboo but the democrat in him publicly accepted the outcome without calling for anybody’s head.”
While commending INEC for a good job, the protesters said no election all over the world is devoid of hitches.
“INEC must be allowed to do their work without molestation. Nobody is talking about the recorded voices of the PDP players which went viral recently where they were scheming to bribe or corner the INEC officials.
“To INEC, therefore, you have done well. Please go ahead with the conduct of Saturday’s governorship election as we look forward to a large turnout rather than apathy we witnessed during the presidential election.”
The group also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for allowing a free, fair and credible election that produced the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
