From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The National Association of Diaspora Alliance (NADA) in the United States has said that Nigeria, as a sovereign nation has a strong internal problem-solving mechanism to come out stronger after its internal wrangling over the recent concluded presidential election in Nigeria.
In a letter dated 19th April, 2023 and addressed to President of the United States of America, Joe Biden in defence of the last general elections in Nigeria, the group said there is no need to worry about Nigeria because the country will emerge unscathed from this period.
In the letter signed by Dr Oluseyi Senu-Oke and Dr Dotun Alli, the chairman and secretary of the group respectively, the association noted that “Nigeria is currently in a situation similar to the election between you and Donald Trump. As you may recall, there was a national election in the United States, the results of which were announced, and you were declared the legitimate winner. However, Trump rejected the verdict, claiming that there were irregularities, rigging, and malpractices in the election with no evidence to back up his claims.
The letter reads “He openly declared that he had won the election and that it had been stolen from him. His ardent supporters began acting out his script, claiming that the election had been rigged. He urged his followers to reclaim the mandate that had been taken from them. His supporters flocked to Capitol Hill, confident that they would reclaim the stolen mandate without having to wait for the court’s decision.
“Trump filed more than 30 frivolous and unfounded court cases in an attempt to
overturn the election, but he ultimately lost all of them.
“The same situation is currently unfolding in Nigeria. On February 25, 2023, the electoral body held a presidential election, and a clear winner was declared after substantially meeting the requirements under Nigerian electoral law. Not long after the election, the second-place finisher—and disregarding the first place finisher—claimed he had won and that the results were rigged. He informed his supporters that the people’s mandate had been stolen and pleaded with them to reclaim it. This should sound familiar, Mr. President.
“They established the “Obidients Movement,” which actively and precisely followed a script dubbed “Trump method” in line with the strategy employed by the Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters. One of these is using all available means to undermine and cast doubt on the election and the president-elect on a national and international scale.
“Their presidential candidate filed a court petition to challenge the election process rather than the outcome. If the mandate was truly stolen, why not challenge the outcome and present evidence of votes stolen from the party? However, prior to any court proceedings, they began a protest on the streets and social media, proclaiming victory and demanding the return of their stolen mandate without a single shred of evidence to back up this heinous claim.
“Those who disagree with them are frequently threatened and verbally abused. There is ongoing intimidation and threat directed at the nation’s supreme court justices in an attempt to sway them to see things their way. This should also sound familiar Mr President. Mr Datti Baba-Ahmed, the presidential running mate of the
opposition Labour Party publicly threatened the current sitting president and the chief judge, claiming that if the president-elect is sworn in, there will be no Nigeria.
“This is a clearly treasonous point of view that flagrantly violates the constitution of Nigeria. This should sound familiar to you, Mr President. No election, regardless of where it is held, is perfect. There are bound to be flaws within human limitations, but this should not translate into total condemnation of the election results, especially if such flaws are insignificant enough to overturn the election’s outcome.”