African politicians have been urged to skip Nigeria’s upcoming inauguration ceremony, where President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu will take the oath of office, by the country’s main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Otunba Segun Showunmi, a spokeswoman for PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, said exclusively to the Daily Statesman that he thought it was time for African leaders to set aside their familiarity with one another and refrain from what he called a “embarrassing democratic heist.”
“We would advise a lot of African countries to reconsider attending the upcoming inaugural ceremony. They will be invariably lending themselves to a very embarrassing democratic heist. Our recommendation is that African leaders must show more than a passing interest in using their attitude, conduct, and utterances. One of the things they could do is boycott the inauguration not because they want to be involved in our issue but because they want the court to adjudicate,” he said.
Referring to a similar situation during South Africa’s Apartheid, he noted that “in South Africa, if some African leaders did not use their boycott, staying away, reprimand, to say this is not right; then probably everybody would have just clapped and said Kumbaya to those who are doing the wrong thing.”
“Of course, it is his (President Nana Akufo-Addo’s) decision and the decision of Ghana to attend the ceremony but our recommendation as the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria, which has a very strong and good relationship with Ghana would be when in doubt, leave it out. And in this particular situation, we recommend that they don’t come,” he stressed.
Different intrusions
In response to the question of whether the legal dispute has benefited other political parties, Otunba Showunmi replied that the PDP is confident that it won the presidential election, even though the defective electoral process allowed other parties to claim victory.
“Without getting involved in the merit and demerit of the case, we are very convinced that we won. Because the process was flawed, it has created room for every other person to claim that they won and that’s part of the reason we say African and world leaders should boycott,” he indicated.
“Elections are a procedural selection process that guarantees the integrity of the citizens picking who will be their representative. If comes to an end, that a greater percentage of the people in the country do not believe that a fair process has trolled up the president-select, then the least that African leaders can do is stay away for now,” he said.
“If the court rules that he is right, then they can congratulate him. Knowing fully well that it will serve as a strong signal that when another election comes, African leaders are not going to play the ostrich by pretending the issues do not concern them. It will form a basis for Ghana and other African countries to clean up democracy,” he pointed out.
