Gumi: Without credible election, government is mere political imposition

Ahmad Gumi, an Islamic cleric, has asked opposition political parties to address grievances regarding Saturday’s presidential election through legal means instead of violence.

On Wednesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.

Prior to the announcement of the results, the major opposition parties — Labour Party (LP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) — called for the cancellation of the election over what they described as irregularities in the conduct of the exercise.

The parties have vowed to approach the court to seek legal redress.

Reacting to the election, Gumi, in a Facebook post on Thursday, asked opposition parties to approach the court in order to show the younger generation that disputes can be resolved through legal means.

The cleric added that the legitimacy of a government can only be achieved through transparent and credible election.

“Without such a framework, the government will run as a purely political imposition by a few privileged cabals holding strategic instruments of power,” Gumi said.

“It is therefore imperative that the full democratic processes of legitimacy are followed. It is good for the nation, and good for the winners and losers.

“I, therefore, implore the opposition parties as an obligatory national duty to go to the election tribunal and up to the supreme court to reestablish the supremacy of law and to teach our younger generation the value of resolving disputes through legal means rather than violence.

“The polity is already very tense, and any government that lacks credibility cannot suppress the people, especially at this troubling time when every region has armed agitating groups that are willing to exploit political instability to augment their rebellion.

“Let the entire litigation process run its course. It has a great deal of importance for our national health. The INEC has failed the nation by sowing more distrust and suspicion because it failed to follow its own guidelines in conducting last week’s elections.

“Fortunately, that is the first step in seeking legitimacy; therefore aggrieved parties should go to court.”