The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has asked the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to be gracious in his victory by including everyone and keeping his campaign promises, no matter their religion, tribe, or political party.
Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the Spokesman for CNG, spoke to journalists on Thursday. He congratulated Tinubu and reminded him that Nigerian voters had put their faith in him to lead them in hopes of a better country.
“We, therefore, urge him to be magnanimous in victory by carrying everybody along irrespective of tribe, religion, region, or political affiliation and to operate an open, inclusive government.
“We appreciate the incoming President’s humility and maturity displayed in his acceptance speech.
“We urge him to keep to his promise o to all sectors in the country; in terms of the spread of federal projects and to be prudent in assembling the team that will assist him in the task of seeing Nigeria through and out of its current limitations around security and the economy; and of leading our nation into a future in which we will live secure lives and pursue livelihoods in a united, strong, prosperous Nigeria whose resources will be protected by leaders,” he said.
The CNG also praised the young people for taking part in the elections and for the important jobs they did as INEC workers.
“We appreciate the commitment expressed in his acceptance speech to robustly tackle youth unemployment, improve the condition of health, reposition our schooling system, and most importantly, improve the standard of living in the country.
“Commend the commitment, resilience, and patriotic endurance shown by voters, who, despite the late arrival of election officials and materials at some polling units, technical issues with biometric identification machines in some cases, remained patiently and discharged their civil responsibilities,” he said.
The group also asked the courts to be fair when deciding on election disputes.
“The voting pattern and outcome of the February elections have undoubtedly come with lessons to be learnt, especially by the people of northern Nigeria.
“One of the lessons is that while the North, in its usual accommodating spirit and democratic tolerance, was able to play decent politics that allowed all candidates of the four major parties to secure substantial and, in some cases, majority votes across northern Nigerian states, the situation was drastically different in particularly the South-east where votes were manipulated and confined solely for their son.
“In this regard, and to avoid doubt, the North has heard the message loud and clear and shall pay a coin for coin in any elections that may come up now or in the future.
“Finally, the CNG recommits to its principles of never to lower the bar where the interests of the North, the unity and security of Nigeria, or the welfare of all citizens are involved,” he added.
