Tribunal judgment: Group asks Nigerians to shun protest, says ‘self-help’ will destabilise nation

The Yoruba Initiative (TYI), a socio-cultural group, has asked Nigerians to shun the ‘Occupy Nigeria’ protest scheduled for Tuesday.

Big Tent Coalition, a group led by Pat Utomi, a professor of political economy and supporter of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), had called on Nigerians to occupy public spaces and facilities in protest against the judgment of the presidential election petition court.

On Wednesday, a five-member panel of the tribunal unanimously dismissed three different petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential poll and affirmed Bola Tinubu as president.

In a statement on Sunday, Tunde Ipinmisho, TYI spokesperson, said the planned protest is a self-serving device to destroy the foundations of the nation’s democratic order.

Ipinmisho said it is contradictory for the petitioners and those claiming to stand up for them to resort to self-help after voluntarily starting a legal process.

He said any act of self-help portends nothing but instability for the country and poses a threat to law and order. 

According to TYI, no organisation claiming to represent the national interest would desire to engage in any activity at this pivotal time to undermine the stability of the country.

“We advise the petitioners and their supporters to tread the part of honour, follow through with the judicial process they had initiated and commit themselves to accepting the outcome of that process at the supreme court,” the group said. 

The socio-political organisation also warned that leaders of the south west would not permit another protest similar to that of #EndSARS.

The Yoruba Initiative also appealed to the relevant security agencies to take note of the apparent threat to the nation’s security and call those behind it to order.