By Our Correspondent
Now fewer than seven state governors stormed the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday to congratulate President Bola Tinubu on his victory at the Supreme Court.
The roll call of the governors included, Duoye Diri of Bayelsa, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun and Yahaya Bello of Kogi. Others were Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, Abdulraman Abdulrazak of Kwara and Babajide SanwoOlu of Lagos.
They were also joined by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume and Senator Sani Musa.
The Supreme Court verdict has drawn the curtain on a protracted legal battle that trailed the outcome of the February 25 presidential election in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu as winner.
It also marked an end to Tinubu’s tortuous journey on a bumpy road to the nation’s seat of power at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
Little wonder that everyone connected to the President or the ruling All Progreasives Congress (APC) one way or the other and, indeed many Nigerians went on a spontaneous and instantaneous jubilation spree to savour the sweet victory as reaffirmed by the apex court.
The governors numbering about seven literally queued up in front of the cameras to express their satisfaction at the judgement delivered by the nation’s apex court. And they all ended their message with an appeal for the opposition figures to sheath their sword and join President Tinubu in efforts to improve service delivery and good governance.
For the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, the judgement was a verdict foretold as he stated that he didn’t expect the Supreme Court Judges to tow a different direcction from their Appeal Court counterparts.
His reaction to the judgment:
“To God be the glory. It is not something unexpected it’s something that we have been waiting. We know ultimately, what we heard today is what is going to be said but the fact that it has come at this early hours, we have nothing to say, but to say thank God for Nigeria. Thank God for all the good people of Nigeria who prayed for this particular day, for this historic victory.
“I think this time around, after this pronouncement, we have no excuse, but to go back to business as usual, to go back and reset our agenda and see what we can be able to do for the people of Nigeria for the next three and a half or four yearsenal.
His message to the opposition:
“They should take heart; there is always one victor at a time, this is Asiwaju’s time, they should all take heart, come and join hands with him. So that we move Nigeria to a greater level.”
SGF George Akume:
“It is a revalidation of the mandate which the Nigerian people gave him, and our electoral process also involves the judicial process. The people spoke loud and clear ,some people were aggrevied ,wrong reasons they went to the court, to the judiciary.
“The highest court, the Supreme Court spoke loud and clear that that mandate was freely given. That is what we want in this country.
“We want stability, we don’t want distraction, the President has taken off beautifully and he has the interest of the people at heart. So far the choices he’s making are tough but at the end of the day ,they will make for a better tomorrow so we are very happy on what has happen today, Nigerians are celebrating.”
Benue Gov, Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia:
“It is quiet exciting because now we are going to move ahead. I know that our President has great plans for the nation and particularly my state, and I will not want us to miss out on that at all. His victory is not just a victory for the nation but those of us who are on the same page for growth and development as it is intending, it is a larger victory for all of us.
“ Today is a blessing for Nigeria that our sitting President carries the day, please let us all join hands with him to take our nation to higher heights because he’s got the potential, he has already started exhibiting what will bring our further growth.”
Gov Babajide Sanwolu of Lagos:
The Supreme Court verdict is historic. it’s the beauty of democracy, it’s the beauty of the power of inclusiveness in governance where every body would have an opportunity to express themselves at the highest level and as a people that is run and governed by a constitution, we all need to abide by this constitution.
“The highest judicial body in our country has expressed themselves very clearly, there were no dissenting voices, there were seven of them that were on the same page.
“That tells us that whatever might have been the differences, let us put it behind us, it is a victory for all. I am sure the President must have alluded to that. What we need to now have is good governance.
“We must have a clear direction on how to get all hands on deck to get the economy of Nigeria on track. Let us put whatever differences, political or otherwise aside and let us rally round this administration for the benefit of Nigerians because at the end of the day, We all want food on our table, we all want good roads , the food is not for a particular party, the road is not for a particular party it is for all Nigerians and that should be our concept going forward. All that is behind us and I can imagine that the President has also run, as much as possible, an inclusive sense of govt. I want to wish Mr President all the best, I want to congratulate the judiciary and all of us.and say to every Nigerians that it is time for us to roll up our sleeves.”
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi:
“Let me use this opportunity to congratulate Mr President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but more importantly, let me congratulate all Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora. At the same time I congratulate even the opposition political parties.
“This decision of today of the erudite jurists has further enriched our jurisprudence and it is crystal clear to all Nigerians that our President won this election free and fair.
“I also congratulate INEC for a job well done, it couldn’t have been better than this at this time, even though there are areas of improvement, but I congratulate them for taking their time painstakingly to do a good job that has been affirmed today by the highest court in the land.
“I congratulate all of us and like I admonished earlier, the opposition should just sheath their sword, support the government of the day. If Mr President succeeds, it is Nigerians that succeed and we are praying and working hard that Mr President should succeed because when a leader succeeds, it touches on all the followers.
“We’re praying for Mr President to succeed so that he can deliver the dividends of democracy to all Nigerians and Nigeria on the path of the Renewed Hope that he promised us earlier.
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun:
“I had the privilege of being in court and we were not surprised because the Appeal Court had laid the foundation of today’s ruling.
“The Appeal Court ruled and the five judges at the Appeal Court were unanimous, it was a very meticulous, painstaking judgement that took well over twelve hours.
“The Appeal Court dealt with every point and I believe that was the foundation of today’s judgement.
“The Supreme Court, the final court, that is the bastion of hope for the common man, today affirmed the ruling of the Appeal Court and that puts to rest all the shenanigans and all the rumours and all the different stories and speculations in the media.
“I want to thank the almighty God first for this ruling and for further validating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory. I want to thank the judiciary particularly for upholding the rule of law because what they did today was being observed worldwide and it speaks to the fact that in Nigeria we’re guided by the rule of law and that the Supreme Court is a Supreme Court that compares to any Supreme Court anywhere in the world.
“They’ve dispensed with this case, they’ve done so in line with global best practices and there’s no doubt left in anybody’s mind that there’s now a closure. Our opponents can now go to sleep or they can now congratulate our President and if they actually did mean well for our country, you aspired to an office with the belief that you can offer the country the representation that it deserves, but it must not be a do-or-die. If that opportunity does not present itself for you now and the courts and people have chosen who they want, if you really do mean well for the country, what you need to do is congratulate that person, join hands with that person to ensure that what you want to do is achieved, that the common man gets the best of governance.
“Our President can now be focused on the task of governance, all the distractions are behind him, he has a lot of work to do. He’s assumed this office at a time when audacious and bold decisions have to be made, which he has made them, he now has to keep his eyes on the ball and continue with his plans in line with is Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Furthermore and more importantly, by this judgement, the Supreme Court has also put to rest a lot of issues that will now become precedents in law. I’m sure that some other cases where either appeals have been filed at the appellate level or the Supreme Court, will probably be withdrawn.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Senator Sani Musa:
“This country as usual, those that were not able to take the defeat decided to go to the court and which is constitutional. And what they did is the right thing. And they have gone, and everything has been exhausted now, and the Supreme Court clearly made it that the winner has emerged, and that the winner of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the person of His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“So what his opponents did by going to the court is the right thing, and for the peace and stability of this country, all the judicial issues have been exhausted now, and it is now time for governance. And I believe that with the Renewed Hope Agenda, eight cardinal point of Mr , President, I think this country has seen a renewed hope. And I believe that even in my position as chairman, Finance Committee, I’ve seen some of the policies of this government, which of course, we have been expecting that a bold leader should do, and that is what the president has done.
“And I believe, within a very short time, we will start seeing what have been done. You know Mr. President, has been in this for a very, very long time. And he has been well prepared and ready to administer this country.
“The message to the opposition is I should take this victory as a victory for all of us, including them, because what it is, is that there is no victor and no vanquished. Since the Supreme Court has decided and is the highest echelon of judiciary, of justice, in this country and they have decided. According to one of them, he said he’s appealing to God. So we all appealing to go for the right direction, where prosperity and hope will be renewed on all of us.”
