Day: April 5, 2023

The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has advised people contemplating interim national government in Nigeria to bury the thought.

Its National Chairman, Chief Odunayo Ategbero, said the idea of an interim national government was completely alien to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended).

Ategbero condemned the alleged plot by some groups he described as desperate politicians to instigate, mobilise and promote the interim national government after the just-concluded 2023 presidential election.

“It is important at this juncture to appreciate the infallibility of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) which does not contemplate any such arrangement in the political space.

“It is the view of the BOT of ALGON that Feb. 25’s presidential and National Assembly Elections outcome is sacrosanct as announced by INEC,’’ he stated.

Ategbero added that what was important now was moving forward after the elections.

“The President-Elect remains Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

“Nigeria has had a successful election even as it is acknowledged that there are some obvious infractions which should be left for the courts to adjudicate upon.

“The Election Tribunal offers a legitimate opportunity for losers to contest their claim,’’ he said.

Ategbero urged Nigerians to be law-abiding and to be steadfast in nurturing Nigeria’s nascent democracy in spite of unguarded utterances laden with inflamed emotions.

The BOT also condemns the heightened desperation by some Nigerians “weaponising’’ the victory with religious and ethnic sentiments for mere political and selfish gains.

“We call on all Nigerians to trust the democratic process against all subterfuge and not to be used by traducers and purveyors of trouble in the interest of more than 200 million Nigerians.

“An appeal is hereby made to the Department of State Service for immediate arrest and prosecution of these groups of desperate citizens fanning the embers of interim national government,’’ Ategbero stated.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Archbishop of Abuja Arch-Dioceses, His Grace Ignatius Kaigama, says those who saw the recent presidential elections as a referendum between Christians and Muslims or the North and the South have badly missed the point.

Kaigama made this known while delivering a sermon at the 2023 Chrism Mass celebration on Tuesday in Abuja.

The Chrism Mass is a religious service held in certain Christian denominations, such as Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.

It is usually celebrated each year on ‘Maundy Thursday” or on another day of Holy Week.

”Some of those seeking power in Nigeria are so notoriously narcissistic and myopic.

”They only see the interests of theirs or their narrow political constituencies.

”Such a view is the most divisive understanding of the Nigerian political reality,” he said.

Referring to a bible passage (1 Timothy 3:2), Kaigama said a leader must be sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, like Judas who betrayed Jesus.

“We should search our hearts to see our infidelities, falsehoods, hypocrisies, the good intentions betrayed, promises broken and resolutions unfulfilled,” he said

The Archbishop prayed for all priests, political leaders and for all the lovely citizen of Nigeria that they may enjoy peace now and eternal reward after.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria