By Ebuka Onyekwelu
Uzuegbuna Okagbue, former senatorial aspirant in Anambra State and a frontline supporter of Bola Tinubu’s candidacy, has described his emergence as Nigeria’s next President as victory for democracy. In his congratulatory message to Bola Tinubu the candidate of the APC in last Saturday’s presidential election, which he has now been declared winner, Okagbue described Tinubu as a leader in his own class. One who shall move the country forward towards a desirable future.
“The 2023 Presidential Election was the most keenly contested in Nigeria’s recent history. Expectations were so high. In all, it was a good test for our growing systems, and to my mind, this is the best election that has been managed by Nigeria’s electoral umpire since 1999. Therefore, Tinubu’s victory is one that didn’t come easy, as a lot of hard work was put into it and the victory is well deserved,” Okagbue said.
Speaking on how some people react to failing and losing, he said that any observer can see clearly that the election was a hard fought battle. Then, he admonished that those who didn’t make it to the finish line should be statesmen and not put their ambition ahead of the country. “The truth is that any election must produce one winner at a time. The winner here is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and those who ran against him ought to unite and see how all of us can move the country forward. When you look at the details of this election, you will see that votes counted and anywhere you see powerful Nigerians losing out, it was the people’s votes that counted. The same applies here. The people’s vote counted for Bola Tinubu above his opponents. People can’t accept results that look good for them and then reject the ones that look bad for them. That is not how it works,” Uzu noted.
Even before the conclusion of the collation of the Presidential Election results, LP and PDP had teamed up, and was faulting the election results. It is not clear upon what basis they are relying to discredit the results. However, INEC maintained that it will review the results at the end of the collation and after a winner had emerged. It would be recalled that Bola Tinubu the winner of the election, was the only one that lost his state of Lagos, as Obi, Atiku, and Kwankwaso all won in their own states.
Responding to what Tinubu’s presidency would look like, Uzuegbuna Okagbue said that Tinubu would hit the ground flying. “President Bola Tinubu would hit the ground flying. I am confident based on his demonstrated special ability to raise a high performance team. With that, he would turn the fortunes of this great country around. Tinubu’s government will be far more favourable to the business community. The private sector will be well positioned to drive the economy of this country. I am sure you have read the news that the mere projection that Tinubu was going to win impacted positively on the country’s bonds. Tinubu’s government would be driven by private sector friendly policy. Most certainly, a few months into the incoming government will put every doubt to rest. It will be an all inclusive government and the country will make profound progress all round,” Uzuegbuna has said.
In about three months, all will be set for President Bola Tinubu’s government, signalling the first time a civilian in the June 1993 struggle for democracy, will be leading Nigeria. Bola Tinubu is also the third person without any link to the military, to become President. The first two were Late President Musa Yar’adua and President Goodluck Jonathan.
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