The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has urged the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to be magnanimous in victory by carrying everybody along and fulfilling his campaign promises, irrespective of religion, tribe, and political affiliation.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, the Spokesman of CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, while congratulating Tinubu, reminded him that Nigerian voters trusted him to lead them with the hope of a better Nigeria.
“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 commended the participation of the youth in the elections as well as the significant role they played as INEC officials.
“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 called on the judiciary to be fair in dealing with electoral disputes that would come before them for adjudication.
“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.
