NIGERIA’s President-elect, Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday in Daura, Katsina State, urged the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the Labour Party, to stomach their defeat at the February 25 presidential election.
He said as democrats, the parties must set their grievances aside and focus on building the nation.
“No matter how provocative a defeat is, we still have to tolerate it because we are democrats and we are trying to build a nation,” Mr Tinubu said when he visited the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at his private residence in Daura, Katsina State, late Wednesday.
His appeal comes hours after he received his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja, having won the election with over eight million votes.
News Point Nigeria reported that Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes winning in 12 states, lead the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar, who scored 6,984,520 votes, Labour Party’s Peter Obi who polled 6,101,533, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, who garnered 1,496,687 votes.
However, the opposition parties have since rejected INEC’s result, alleging gross irregularities in the vote count and its failure to transmit results electronically.
On Monday, both parties called for the cancellation of the election and also asked the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to step down, over claims that the election was rigged in APC’s favour.
However, Tinubu, who was in Daura to present his certificate of return to his soon-to-be predecessor, urged the parties to focus on building the nation.
“I came to present the certificate of return to him (Buhari) as the party leader and commend his efforts in supporting democracy in Africa.
“This is the largest democracy in Africa and he couldn’t have done any better. We are lucky there is no incident, there is no accident, and no matter how provocative a defeat is, we still have to tolerate it because we are democrats and we are trying to build a nation,” he said.
He described Buhari as a loyal party leader who is willing and committed to transfer power peacefully.
Tinubu said, “Well, the calmness and commitment and the fact that after voting, he taught us again, dedication to our party by displaying his ballot papers, loyalty to the party and being ready to create a future for all of us.
“And no matter how tempting the problem of democracy is, he is following the process, building a successor and ready to hand over peacefully, you know in Africa it’s a big deal you know.”
The former Lagos State Governor also said he has received countless congratulatory messages from world leaders, including French President, Emmanuel Macron.
He also noted that the stock market was reacting positively to his victory.
“Oh! (I have received) very many, many of that. In fact, as far as Europe, the stock market reacted positively well, there was a goodwill message from Macron the President of France,” Tinubu said.
Earlier, Buhari had assured Nigerians that he will work closely with Mr Tinubu’s team to ensure an “orderly handover of power.”
He also urged the aggrieved parties to take their complaints “to the courts, not to the streets.”