By Ozioruva Aliu,BENN CITY

AIDES to the ministers of the federal government under the aegis, Network of Ministerial Aides (NETMA) has condemned the call in some quarters for the composition of an interim government instead of handing over power to the democratically elected president on May 29th.

   The aides accused the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi of inciting Nigerians, particularly the youths, to a repeat of #EndSARS protests that rocked Nigeria.

   A statement by Dr. Philip Ugbodaga on behalf of NETMA said it was absurd for the two to be claiming they won the election and inciting protests while they are in court to challenge the outcome of the election, an action he said was an indication that they would accept the outcome of the court rulings.

  Part of the statement read “We note with grave concern the current orchestrated actions of the presidential candidates of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively in attempting to subject our democratic institutions to ridicule and opprobrium. High-profile elections in which the process and results were brutally questioned, such as in Kenya, Venezuela, and Myanmar have often fueled instability and distrust among the major ethnic groups.

 In a multi-ethnic, and multi-religious country like ours, allowing the present situation to fester after the announcement of the winner of the presidential election is not only antithetical to democratic consolidation but also to the peaceful transfer of power from the present administration to the incoming one.

   “The actions of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi are jeopardizing the integrity of the 2023 elections and we are particularly troubled that young, impressionable and innocent young people and some non-discerning adults are going along with Obi/Atiku post-election rhetorics and incendiary remarks. Their challenge of our institutions are delegitimizing our democracy through their unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. Their action is one more step in delegitimising not just the incoming Asiwaju /Shettima administration, but Nigerian democracy generally and we consider this to be a dangerous path to thread.

   “Their consistent statements and remarks in their staged-managed protests and media interviews are laced with misleading statements and outright falsehoods and amount to an assault on the democratic process which has been running without interruptions since 1999. With a fragile polity such as ours, it is our fear that their current actions have the potential of pouring fuel into our democracy which may be ignited as soon a match is lit. They are also preparing to strike the match any moment from now.

   “It is the height of absurdity for anyone to suggest the formation of an interim government in Nigeria which the duo of Atiku and Obi and their supporters are currently clamouring for. Such a call has no place in our constitution and even common sense. No lover of Nigeria should call for the formation of an interim administration simply because an opposition party failed to win the general election. Why are they not calling for the formation of interim administrations in the states of the federation where their parties won or failed to win governorship elections? Why is there a rabid fixation to demarket President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?

 After submitting their respective petitions to the Court of Appeal for adjudication, Atiku and Obi have no moral or legal basis to continue to stir the nation towards a state of anarchy.”