By Ogochukwu Isioma
The President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has set up a committee to meet his co-contestants who are aggrieved over the outcome of the just concluded February 25 presidential election to kick-start what he referred to as the “healing process”.
Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was in the early hours of Wednesday declared winner of the keenly contested election which held last Saturday by Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu.
He polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Labour Party, LP’s Peter Obi who had 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes respectively.
The opposition parties have rejected the outcome of the poll, saying INEC failed to play by the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 on electronic transmission of results, threatening to head to court to challenge the poll’s outcome.
However, in a statement on Thursday by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and a member of the committee, he disclosed that every aggrieved person would be met for reconciliation.
He explained that a Committee of Elders of the APC would soon reach out to the co-contestants of the President-elect in a bid to assuage their loss in the just-concluded poll.
According to him, “The President-elect has set up committees to meet with the gentlemen who contested in the election for us to start the healing process. I belong to one of the committees. We are going to meet them and appeal to them so that we can work together.”
Tinubu had in his acceptance speech on Wednesday, extended olive branches to his co-contestants, saying; “I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together. It is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build together.”
“Whether you are Batified or Atikulated, Obidients, Kwankwasiyya, or have any other political affiliation, you voted and struggled for a better Nigeria, a more hopeful nation. I thank you for participating and dedicating to our democracy.”
