The Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiatives has urged former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, not to leave the country in frustration following Thursday’s verdict of the Supreme Court, which affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu.

The coalition made the appeal at a solidarity rally to celebrate Tinubu’s victory in front of the Eagle Square in Abuja.

A seven-man panel of the apex court had unanimously affirmed the election of the president and dismissed the appeals of Obi, and his Peoples Democratic Party counterpart, Abubakar, on Thursday.

The justices, led by John Okoro, rejected the application of Atiku seeking to present Tinubu’s credentials obtained from the Chicago State University as evidence supporting his claim that the president forged the document submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Addressing newsmen after the Supreme Court judgment, National Coordinator of the coalition, Okpokwu Ogenyi, urged Obi and Atiku not to dump Nigeria but to work conscientiously with the president to move the country forward.

He said, “To the National Chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, His Excellency Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, you have done well. Within your few months in the office, the APC is winning from all angles, your resilience in repositioning the party has added value to our democracy and has thus contributed in no small measure, to the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

“The coalition wishes to call on all those who participated in the last Presidential election to join the new Nigeria of our dream, an egalitarian Nation where peace and justice shall reign. We specifically single out the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar and the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, not to abandon Nigeria. It is our opinion that they should stay back and contribute meaningfully to the project in Nigeria.

“We believe that as citizens of Nigeria, one must not become a president or vice president before he or she can make a meaningful contribution to the development of our Nation. For now, the struggle for political power has ended for the duo. But that does not mean they do not have opportunities in the future. Therefore, before the said future will come there is a need to cooperate with the incumbent and ensure that we all succeed together as a Nation.

“It is a fact that when rain falls, it will not fall only on the land of APC members. Both the PDP and LP members will benefit. The road and other infrastructure to be built by this administration will be travelled on by all. We are brothers and sisters. Once again, we congratulate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his vice Kashim Shettima, the National Chairman of the APC, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Chief Justice of Nigeria Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola and all the judges and lawyers who participated in one way or the other in making Nigeria great again.”

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