Fayemi to Nigerians: Be calm, election is not war

The immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has urged Nigerians to remain calm in the aftermath of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections in the country.

Fayemi, who is the President of the Forum of Regions of Africa (FORAF), enjoined Nigerians not to make inflammatory comments or take actions that may lead to the breakdown of law and order.

The former governor said this via a statement issued on Monday by his media aide, Ahmad Sajoh.

He said: “The election is not war. There are about 90 million registered voters and it is impossible for all of them to have uniformity of electoral choices. Diversity and plurality of beliefs, ideas, and attitudes are the bedrock of representative democracy. An election will probably not be necessary if we all have the same choices.

“I, therefore, urge all Nigerians to be calm and not to make inflammatory statements or take actions that may lead to the breakdown of law and order. We should allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to tally and announce the results.

“I note that INEC had challenges relating to the digitalization of the electoral process but the Commission had promised to fix this. We should give INEC benefit of the doubt, and await the completion of the process and the announcement of the final outcome.

“I appeal to political leaders and actors to exercise restraint at this point and not to incite or encourage their followers to take the laws into their hands. Elections are a process and they don’t necessarily end with the announcement of results on election day.

“Aggrieved persons can still approach the courts to seek redress if they believe they have been cheated or robbed of electoral mandates.

“While elections will come and go, our country will remain. Therefore, we should not consider this particular election as the end of electoral opportunities for the country. There will be life after this election and we must all work together, regardless of the outcome, to make Nigeria great,” Fayemi stated.

The Star

Segun Ojo