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Prominent Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has asked opposition political parties to address grievances regarding the presidential election through legal means instead of violence.
Reacting to the pledge by opposition parties to seek legal redress in a Facebook post, yesterday, Gumi encouraged them 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.
“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.”
