Finally – Frank Ofili

The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Thursday upheld President Bola Tinubu’s election win, bringing to an end, a legal challenge brought by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, who argued that his victory was marred by irregularities.

By that judgment, Nigerians can now all rest. No body should now tag me again any social media post on Tinubu’s electoral victory, or lack of it. Our Supreme Court has spoken, whatever anyone may think regardless.

Tinubu is the President and Commander-in-Charge of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Election was conducted and he won, the flawed process, and whatever happened on election day, which they all participated in, notwithstanding. I never doubted his victory from Day 1.

His certificate from Chicago State University? Forged, not forged? I cannot say, though shameful, very, very shameful that something so ignoble should be linked to the President of the most populous Black nation on earth. But that is another matter entirely that should have been dealth with in the process leading up to the Presidential election. The fact remains that it had no direct effect on the voting pattern on election day.

So, like I did before, I here once again, enjoin LP candidate, Peter Obi, and PDP flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar, to congratulate Tinubu and let the nation move on. They should help President Tinubu to lead, they should help him to deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians. One way they can do this is to criticise his government policies that they find not so good, or not in the interest of the country.

Of course, they should not criticise merely for criticism’s sake. They should criticise constructively. What makes criticism constructive is its analysis of the issue on ground and the proffering of alternative solutions that should have been taken. This is what I do, to the dislike, I must say, of many on both sides of the political divide. But who cares?