Julius Abure’s Call For Re-run Of The Presidential Election: Lamentation Of A Frustrated, Drowning Man

By Chinedu Jude Eloka

Political neophytes evaluate election and its results with campaign hullabaloo and rantings from sugar-coated flattery voices, which might have culminated from bandwagon effects of a few gullible supporters.When I critically embarked upon monitoring and evaluation of the presidential election from the inception to the zenith, I was meant to understand that Peter Obi did not have the capacity to win the election. Majority of the supporters of the LP presidential candidate were more in online activities than on ground; while election itself is a grass-root game. So, election is not won by assumption, but by perfection of winning strategies. The major critical aspects of Peter Obi’s Presidential campaign – funding, monitoring and evaluation, PVCs registration and collection by supporters and physical appearance of supporters during voting — were not creditably done by the noisy supporters; hence, they did not go a long way to finishing stronger for victory.

Julius Abure’s outbursts of frustration recently were orchestrated by the same belief that election could be won by mere inciting of violence and hitting the polity. Abure’s belief for a possible re-run of the concluded presidential election is just the height of his callousness and insensitivity as a leader of daft youths in the political system. The diction of the draughtsmen of the nation’s constitution was just sacrificed on the alter of baseless legal exercise that was aimed at making out something out of nothing. The constitutional stipulations as corroborated to that of the electoral acts for winning presidential election in Nigeria have it that a winner of presidential election in Nigeria must win 25% votes in the 2/3 of the 36 states in Nigeria plus Abuja. That, by convention, means that 25% of 2/3 of 36 states plus Abuja(37) must be won. Mathematically, 2/3 of 37=24 states, approximated to the whole number. By the language of the constitution’s draughtsmen, the clause did not mean that one must win 25% votes in Abuja before he could be declared the winner of the nation’s presidential election. Abure’s unguided utterances did not prove that he is a learned legal practitioner. If he is truly a legal practitioner, he would not have made such an inciting speech concerning a matter that is still awaiting for the determination of the honourable PEPT.

Without taking Nigeria aback, INEC declared President Tinubu the duly elected President after he secured the 25% of 2/3 majority votes in 37 states by summation. President Tinubu went further to garner the highest votes, by counting, among the other presidential contestants. Not having 25% votes in Abuja is too infinitesimal to hinder President Tinubu’s victory in the just concluded presidential election of 2023. The recent inciting outbursts of Julius Abure portrayed to Nigerians that the LP former leader and his violent OBIdients of his camp were desperate to cling into power in the presidency using violence and other unlawful means. I personally recommend that the DSS arrest Julius Abure for making provocative utterances on a case that is pending in the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal(PEPT). Abure, after being ousted from the helms of affairs in the LP, decided to be causing mayhem in the political system, using his violent OBIdient supporters who believed it was their heritage to govern the nation through Peter Obi presidency. For all I know or care, Peter Obi did not have the locus standi to be declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election in any guise. We must protect the sanctity of democracy by stopping any violent political movement like that of OBIdients of Abure’s camp.

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I believe that if the 2023 presidential election had been conducted online, Peter Obi would have coasted home with victory. That is to say that the presumed online teeming supporters of Peter Obi did not concretize their supports with their PVCs. Also, funding was a serious challenge that impeded the success of the LP in the recently concluded presidential election of 2023. The political inexperience of the majority of the supporters of Peter Obi led to their abysmal performance in the 2023 presidential election. The incursion of disgruntled elements during, before and after the presidential election hindered, to a large extent, the electoral fortunes of the LP. Majority of those that were saddled with the responsibilities of managing the campaigns and election for Peter Obi were just out to feather their own nests as against the interest of the party. I appeal to Nigerians to disregard the utterances of the embattled former LP leader, Julius Abure, and discountenance all his inciting speeches concerning the 2023 general election. All, as witnessed from Abure, was just the lamentation of a frustrated loser.

President Tinubu was a workaholic, putting strong political structures on ground since 1992; grooming many politicians in his structures; funding many political movements who today metamorphosed into stronger supporters to his aspiration, and building bridges across all political and regional divides. I can vividly say that President Tinubu planned to win the 2023 presidential election. One positive attribute of President Tinubu’s style of politics is that his structures cut across all the political parties in Nigeria. He built formidable structures comprising the youths, the political class, the business class, the religious class and many more. He is just well represented in all the strata of the Nigeria society as a leader with big heart to accommodate all. President Tinubu raised men to succeed in the political system, who later appreciated him with strong support base that led to his victory in the 2023 presidential election. President Tinubu is not an accidental president, he truly worked for what he is today during his wee days of democratic struggle. You don’t just come and win president in the pluralistic Nigerian society without putting more efforts which must take time, years to actualize.

We must discountenance the current unguided utterances of Julius Abure, who believes that winning the president of Nigeria is the birthright of the noisy OBIdients. Abure, after running the LP aground, resorted to using violence to cover up his flop. Instead of judicious appropriation of campaign funds to get positive results, Abure resorted to feathering his own nest, while extending such alms of fellowship to cronies who did same, in using campaign to enrich themselves. The consequences of Abure’s undoing led to the LP’s loss in the presidential contest and caused the divisions witnessed in the party today. Going on to deceive the gullible and daft OBI-dients is an expression of his frustration as a serial loser in the political system. Nigerians should join hands together in patriotism to support President Tinubu in his government for us to rebuild the nation in line with the President’s effective leadership directives. In all, I believe Nigeria will soon be great again. Our unity of purpose and love for our fatherland will trigger rapid development of the nation. Our destiny, as a nation, is in our hands!

Shalom