You Have Opportunity To Compete, Win In Next Round Of Elections – Tinubu Tells Atiku, Peter Obi
President Bola Tinubu has told his challengers at the election tribunal – Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi – that they have an opportunity to compete and win in the next round of elections.
Tinubu stated this in his maiden Democracy Day speech on Monday, adding that if Atiku and Obi could not “endure and accept the pain of defeat in elections” they did not deserve “the joy of victory when it is their turn to triumph.”
He said, “This year, we held the seventh in the cycle of elections that have become sacred rituals of our democratic practice in this dispensation since 1999.
“That the polls were intensely contested is in itself positive evidence that democracy is well and alive in our land. It is only natural that even as those who won and experienced victory in the various elections are elated and fulfilled, those who lost are disenchanted and disappointed.
“But the beauty of democracy is that those who win today can lose tomorrow and those who lose today will have an opportunity to compete and win in the next round of elections.”
“Those who cannot endure and accept the pain of defeat in elections do not deserve the joy of victory when it is their turn to triumph.
“Above all, those who disagree with the outcome of the elections are taking full advantage of the constitutional provisions to seek redress in court and that is one of the reasons why democracy is still the best form of government invented by man,” Tinubu added.
Reminiscing on the 1993 struggles that ushered in a civilian government in 1999, the President venerated the Chief MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Alfred Rewane and Maj-Gen Shehu Yar’Adua who were silenced by the military junta saying “They gave their yesterday for the liberty that is ours today.”
Speaking of the rule of law, the President said his administration will not condone conflicting and illegal orders that undermine Nigeria’s democracy.
He also described the bill he signed into law on June 8 for the harmonisation of the retirement age for judicial officers as one of many policy reforms to come.
“For Chief MKO Abiola, the symbol of this day, in whose memory June 12 became a national holiday, democracy is eternal.
“It is about the rule of law and vibrant judiciary that can be trusted to deliver justice and strengthen institutions. It has become imperative to state here that the unnecessary illegal orders used to truncate or abridge democracy will no longer be tolerated.”
