Based on the constitutional provision, either the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu or that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar will be the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Irrespective of the huge results a candidate gathered, the constitution makes it compulsory that he must get at least 25 percent of the votes cast in a minimum of 24 out of the 36 States of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
So far, as at last night, February 27, Tinubu had gotten the 25 percent or more in 12 states while Atiku got the 25 percent of the votes cast in eight States, with the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi trailing with three states,despite the wave he has been making.
President Muhammadu Buhari has advised elected leaders to respect the voters and make them feel important or they would mess them up in elections.
“Respect the voters and make them feel important. If you don’t, they will wait in ambush for you in the next election.
“Depending on how you deal with them, they will keep you in office, or they will send you packing.”
The President spoke today, February 27, when he received in audience in his Daura, Katsina State country home, winners of the Senate and House of Representatives elected to represent the Daura zone.
He congratulated the Senator-elect, Nasiru Sani who obtained 174,062 votes, to beat the incumbent, Senator Ahmed Babba Kaita who had defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following his defeat in the primary elections.
President Buhari also welcomed the election of Alhaji Aminu Jamo, House of Representatives member-elect for Daura/Sandamu/Mai Adua Federal Constituency who defeated his PDP opponent by more than 10,000 votes.
The President said that doors are opened to welcome elected leaders in the ongoing election, who perform well in the process.
The National Legal Adviser of the APC, Barrister Ahmed El-Marzuq, who led the elected representatives, said that success of the party was due to progress recorded in the Senatorial zone under the Buhari presidency.
El-Marzuq cited several projects, which he said had enhanced education, entrepreneurship, social development and the development of human capital in the area.
Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has drawn attention to moves being made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) to throw Nigeria into a constitutional crisis and political chaos.
A statement today, February 27, by Festus Keyamo, the Director of Public Affairs and Chief Spokesperson, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, said: “we have it on good authority that the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party have perfected plans to finally scuttle our democracy and throw the country into constitutional crises by surreptitiously obtaining exparte court orders stopping the announcement of the Presidential Election results which they fear have gone against them.”
The statement said that the walk-out they staged today at the National Collation Center is just a precursor to executing the plan.
The statement went on:
Nigerians would recall that the June 12, 1993 debacle that brought Nigeria to its knees and caused our country international isolation was precipitated by a court injunction stopping the announcement of Presidential Election results. The court order was obtained by a certain Association for Better Nigeria headed then by one Chief Authur Nzeribe. This is exactly what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi want to foist on this nation again because of their inordinate ambitions. This is not surprising because both candidates where nowhere to be seen when ASIWAJU was fighting for the democracy we all enjoy today.
However, we wish to draw the attention of Nigerians, the Judiciary and the world to the provisions of section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act which prohibits the grant of injunctions to the stop the holding of elections (which includes the declaration of results). The section states:
‘Nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general elections under this Act pending the determination of a suit.’
This has prompted their instructions to their campaign organizations, especially their spokespersons to continue to issue statements, making false claims of ‘victory’ when there is no single scientific basis for such claims. For instance, as outlandish as some of their claims of manipulation are, they have not pointed at one single presidential election result in any single unit in the whole country where they scored a particular figure with a result sheet duly signed by their agent that was subsequently changed at a Collation Centre. All we hear are sound bites of their spokespersons, huffing and puffing about winning the election just to whip up public sentiments to prepare the ground to reject the results when they are eventually released by INEC.
For us our position is very simple and straight forward: we wish to allow the legal process of declaring presidential election results to take place peacefully and in an orderly fashion. ASIWAJU is not desperate, but is very confident of victory.
We therefore wish to advice anyone who wishes to aid and encourage these candidates along this infamous part to remember the June 12 debacle. They may also wish to learn a lesson or two from President Muhammadu Buhari who resorted to the court of law in 2003, 2007 and 2011 when same PDP ‘defeated’ him in those presidential elections in controversial circumstances. President Buhari, as a true statesman and democrat, never resorted to underhand tactics to declare himself President.
The All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has defeated his opponents in Ekiti State.
According to the results announced by Professor Akeem Olawale Lasisi, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the presidential election in Ekiti, Tinubu polled 201,494 votes to beat the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, who stand a distant second and third respectively.
The Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has defeated his main rival, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Katsina State, President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state.
Returning Officer for Katsina State, Muazu Abubakar, who announced this yesterday, February 26, said that Atiku got 489,045 votes to lead Tinubu, who collected 482, 283 votes with a margin of 6,762 votes.
He said that Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, Presidential Candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) scored 69,386 votes.
He said that Tinubu won in 21 local government areas, while Atiku won in 13 council areas out of the state’s 34 local government areas.
Former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole has emerged Senator under the All Progressives Congress (APC)
Report reaching us at Greenbarge Reporters online newspaper showed that Oshiomhole polled 107,110 votes in yesterday’s February 25 election to displace the incumbent, Senator Francis Alimekhena of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 55,344 votes.
The result was declared today, February 26 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Oshiomhole was also the past national chairman of the ruling APC.
The election is for the Edo North Senatorial District.
With the voting over between yesterday, February 25 and part of today, February 26, in Nigeria in the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections, one cannot resist the urge to take a look at the circumstances around one of the Presidential contestants, Peter Obi. As a matter of fact, when Peter Obi first emerged from the pack and indicated his intention to contest the presidency under the Labour Party (LP), I was one of those who appreciated and hailed him, for one reason: his emergence from the particular part of the country was to me, a sweet antidote to stop the move by some elements to calve another country known as Biafran Republic from Nigeria. My positive reaction to his emergence on this parameter was based on the fact that those agitating for Biafra, especially the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) would have no reason to continue because, at least he (Peter Obi) had come to show that Igbo are part and parcel of Nigeria thereby foreclosing Biafran idea. . I had written then that whatever his ambition might turn out to fetch him, whether success at polls or lack of it, Peter Obi would be regarded as the hero of the 2023 election, and the advancement of democracy. I considered him as representing a unifying factor in the struggle between the agitating elements in Igbo land and the rest of us on this side.
However, when he introduced series of visits to churches across the country, I began to fear the end to which such visits would lead the country, especially against the background of his alleged historical hatred for Muslims when he was Governor of Anambra State years back. He was accused of demolishing Mosques in the State, maybe at the time he never thought “tomorrow”would come when he would need the same Muslims. He never made attempt to douse the flame of such fear which many Muslims nursed. Of course, as the campaign hotted up, youths in many parts of the country queued behind him, seeing in him, the freshness in the idea of moving the country to the next level. This was even as his Igbo people, not only in the Southeast but all over Nigeria: Lagos, Kano, Bauchi and others, vowed to give him block vote despite that he had no political structure anywhere. But the resort to religious sentiment became a danger to the collective existence of the country. In other words, there’s nothing dangerously wrong for Peter Obi to try to attract the support and sympathy of his ethnic group, after all, let’s face the fact, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and some others before him did the same: there’s nothing wrong in appealing to the conscience of the overzealous youths as he did, neither to even the Labour (workers group) the same way it happens in the United Kingdom. But many things are dangerously wrong in fanning the embers of religion in any form. The consequences of Peter Obi’s visits to churches started to manifest when most of the churches across the country were turned into open campaign for him. In the beginning, it looked almost normal since he took his time to visit them and sought their support, and therefore they felt obliged to reciprocate, but it became worrisome when a few days before the election, pastors, reverends and other church leaders campaigned not just with words but also by threats and curses on any Christian who would not vote for Peter Obi. In fact, one of the church leaders threatened to physically fight Christians that would not vote for the LP candidate. The situation became so frightening in the Christian circle that Muslims have no choice to also resolve to vote for either Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or even Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP, all being Muslims. Imams and other leaders used their preachings and Sermons in Mosques at the Friday Jum’at prayer (a day to election) to openly call on Muslims to vote for Muslim Presidential candidates. The end result, in spite of the initial positive idea which Peter Obi initially presented, has been the dangerous move, either inadvertently or knowing, to divide Nigeria along religious line.
He appeared to have given Nigeria a source for the attainment of unity along ethnic and regional lines, and took it back with the divisive tendency along religious line. On Labour, it is obvious that the effectiveness and the representative status of Nigerian Labour movement, in the context of the 2023 elections, will subsequently be a subject of contention as we move out of the election period. It is clear that the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and other labour organizations are now politically inclined, either in power if the candidate they present win election, or opposition party, if power eludes the candidate. Therefore, the labour unions will no longer have the muscle, as opposition, to fight the government for workers welfare.
The buildup to the campaigns and eventual voting yesterday, from the point of view of Peter Obi’s true political profile and what the labour organizations have turned into, remains hazy, with a lot of questions.
And one of the numerous relevant questions goes thus: would Peter Obi Christianise and or Igbonise Nigeria should he win the Presidency?
Remember that in the buildup to the 2015 election, President Muhammadu Buhari did not do half of what Peter Obi did in the build up to the February 25, 2023 election when he (Buhari) was roundly accused of coming to Islamise and or Fulanise Nigeria. Former President Olusegun Obsanjo joined loudmouthed Nigerians to promote such unbelievable mantra.
So, what about now, with Peter Obi at the centre of religious bigotism and ethnic chauvinism?
As you read this, the nation is awaiting the results of the presidential election held two days ago – some anxiously, some eagerly, and some with their hearts in their mouths, but all are hopeful for a new dawn because, depending on the results, hopes for a better nation can either be actualised or marred.
There are 18 presidential candidates, out of which we have the “big four”, among whom we expect the next president of Nigeria to emerge. They are Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Gregory Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Each of them has his support base and each of them is hopeful of victory. They have traversed the length and breadth of this country in their mobilisation efforts. They have engaged Nigerians in open rallies and town hall meetings, including holding media chats and debates where they told of their intentions when elected. Each of them has journeyed over the oceans and parlayed with the Americans and Europeans, those whom we copy our systems of governments from and look towards for approval.
Our prayer should be: may the best among them win, because all of them are good in their ways and each has a track record worth commending.
Tinubu of the APC has been acclaimed for improving Lagos and identifying outstanding talents for public office, among whom is Yemi Osinbajo.
Atiku Abubakar, too, has been credited with creating institutions and building men, notable among whom is Nasir el-Rufa’i.
Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso had developed Kano and educated as well as developed men, among whom is Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Peter Obi has shown prudence while he was the governor of Anambra State and God knows Nigeria needs a prudent leader.
Therefore, any who emerges among these four giants should be okay. Those who say a Fulani – even though they are ignorant of the fact that both Atiku and Kwankwaso are not Fulani – should not be president twice because Buhari has done it, refuse to acknowledge that Asiwaju and Olusegun Obasanjo are both Yorubas.
If we have refused to acknowledge that if the turn is the South’s, then it should be the South East’s turn, then we should not raise any dust whoever emerges as president.
There is nothing religious about any of the tickets or candidates. To begin with, any position that is Islamic will not be contested for by a Christian and vice versa. And this is why no Muslim president will begin minuting on a file with the name of Allah or a Christian in the name of Jesus. Each one of them will preside over Nigeria according to the dictates of the constitution, nothing more, nothing less.
The two leading Muslim contenders have all identified with Christians. For instance, Atiku Abubakar has praised the agenda for national development brought to him by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) while Tinubu has assuaged their fears over the Muslim-Muslim ticket by telling Christians that his wife is a pastor and some of his children are Christians. His running mate, Kashim Shettima, had earlier told Muslims that their interests would be taken care of by the Sultan of Sokoto while saying he had rebuilt thousands of churches as well as taken thousands of Christians to Jerusalem.
Therefore, we should not allow ourselves to love or fight for any of them based on their ethnicity or religion because none of these defines any of them.
When our candidate wins, we should not jubilate to the extent of touching on the raw nerves of those whose candidates lost. And if our candidate loses, that should not infuriate us to the extent of taking it out on those celebrating.
In whatever we do, we should be mindful that the politicians — both losers and winners — have a way of making up, patching ruptured relationships and coming together for their good, or the nation’s, whichever.
The average person who will fight his friends, neighbours and family will in the end be the one at the receiving end and he may even lose his life in the process. And the world wouldn’t pause on its track or look back when that happened.
Therefore, what we must avoid are two things: fake news and those who may not accept the results based on their expectations that may not have conformed to reality.
And this is where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should help by promptly announcing authentic results as they come in. It should give no room for doubt or controversies in any of its activities.
The media, too, has a responsibility to do all they can not to stoke the embers of discord and anarchy in the land. News reports need to be sieved to keep out all that can cause disaffection. They should not publish unauthenticated results for whatever reasons. Social media netizens should try as much as possible to be patriotic by being more responsible in the way they handle election results; everything should be about national interest.
But for our gallant security agencies, perhaps there would be no Nigeria by now. Now is also their time. They have been called to duty again, and they are required and expected, as always, to protect and be there for us and our dear country.
What is incumbent upon us is to pray to our creator to give us peace and stability and anoint for us the best as He sees fit from among the contestants, and not necessarily as we feel. And we should accept His choice through the thumbprints of the majority.
However, if we close our eyes to the truth and, for some untenable sentiments, use our thumbs to elect the unfit, then I leave us with Abraham Lincoln’s statement: “Elections belong to the people; it’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” And they will, probably, for eight years.
Hassan Gimba is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Neptune Prime.
President Muhammadu Buhari has donated one million US Dollars to the government of the Republic of Turkey on behalf of the people and government of Nigeria. The President said that the token was given to the the government of Turkey to support the ongoing humanitarian efforts towards cushioning the effects of the tragic earthquake. Buhari’s special envoy, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, who handed over the President’s letter of Condolence as well as a Central Bank of Nigeria Promissory Note of USD $1 million, for onward transmission to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, conveyed Buhari’s heartfelt condolences on behalf of Nigeria to the Government and people of Türkiye, over the devastating earthquake. Muhammad Musa Bello, who is the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, Ambassador Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the capital, Ankara. Buhari’s special envoy was accompanied on the mission by the Nigerian Ambassador to Türkiye, Malam Ismail Abba Yusuf. The Türkiye Minister of Foreign Affairs welcome Buhari’s special envoy and said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was unable to personally receive the envoy and his delegate due to exigencies of directly overseeing humanitarian efforts in the eleven quake-hit southern provinces of the country – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig. The Minister thanked President Buhari, the Government and people of Nigeria for the show of solidarity, financial as well as material support to the Republic of Türkiye in its trying times. He said that the First Lady of Nigeria, Hajiya Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, had earlier donated 10,000 blankets on behalf of African First Ladies Forum to the ongoing Humanitarian efforts in the country. Ambassador Çavuşoğlu told the Special Envoy that as at 23d February 2023, no fewer than 43,000 persons have been confirmed dead while 14 million people were affected in eleven provinces of the Country. He added that the Government has resolved to embark on rebuilding new Cities with all associated infrastructure in all the locations of the disaster. The Minister wished Nigeria a successful and peaceful general elections, saying that in compliance with the country’s Constitution, the Government of Türkiye is also committed to conducting its forthcoming general election on June this year, despite the devastating effects of the earthquake.
As some results of the Presidential election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday, February 25, begin to trickle in, indications are that the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is comfortably leading in Lagos, Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States, while the Labour Party’s Peter Obi was dominant in the South East.
Peter Obi also made some inroads in Lagos State and former strongholds of the PDP in Edo and Delta. As at last night, the Labour Party presidential candidate had also won nine of the 13 polling units at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja. But his performance in the North was abysmal where the APC and the PDP were sharing the votes in the three geo-political zones in the North. The APC was doing well in Yobe and Sokoto State at press time. Some of the results yet to be confirmed by INEC are as follows: Lagos State Ajeromi/Ifelodun LGA APC – 21,102 LP – 12,417 PDP – 3,750 Amuwo-Odofin LGA APC – 21,387 LP – 12,583 PDP – 3,836 Alimosho LGA APC – 56,172 LP – 32,992 PDP – 10,071 Ikeja LGA APC – 45,586 LP – 26,725 PDP – 7,847 Ikorodu LGA APC – 64,956 LP – 38118 PDP – 11,057 Yobe State: Potiskum LGA APC – 25,845 PDP – 6,787 LP – 0 Yunusari LGA APC – 15,177 PDP – 3,839 LP – 0 Nguru LGA APC – 15,962 PDP – 4,033 LP – 0 Yusufari LGA APC – 14,197 PDP – 3,591 LP – 0 Bade LGA APC -7,667 PDP – 1,982 LP – 0 Bursari LGA: APC – 3,815 PDP – 986 LP – 0 Damaturu LG APC- 8,957 PDP – 2,316 LP – 0 Fika LGA: APC – 9470 PDP – 2,432 LP – 0 Fune LGA: APC – 10, 677 PDP – 2,760 LP – 0 Geidam LGA: APC – 6,601
NNPP – 7,971 PDP – 21,020 Result from Sen. Kashim Shettima’s Lamisula/Jabbamari polling unit 023, Maiduguri APC – 126 votes PDP – 23 votes Labour Party = 0 vote Mallam Nuhu Ribadu’s Polling Unit 022 Aliyu Mustapha College Yola, Adamawa APC: 140 PDP: 68 LP: 11 The elections were generally peaceful, though INEC and the security agencies reported violence and disruptions in some states. The commission said fresh elections would be held where necessary while the police arrested some people said to have breached the peace. Five persons were confirmed dead before and during the exercise. The APC flag bearer said, after voting in Ikeja, Lagos that he was “too confident” of victory. Source: The Nation Newspaper
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Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has drawn attention to moves being made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) to throw Nigeria into a constitutional crisis and political chaos.
However, when he introduced series of visits to churches across the country, I began to fear the end to which such visits would lead the country, especially against the background of his alleged historical hatred for Muslims when he was Governor of Anambra State years back. He was accused of demolishing Mosques in the State, maybe at the time he never thought “tomorrow”would come when he would need the same Muslims.
Let Us Accept God’s Choice Through Us, By Hassan Gimba
As you read this, the nation is awaiting the results of the presidential election held two days ago – some anxiously, some eagerly, and some with their hearts in their mouths, but all are hopeful for a new dawn because, depending on the results, hopes for a better nation can either be actualised or marred.
There are 18 presidential candidates, out of which we have the “big four”, among whom we expect the next president of Nigeria to emerge. They are Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Gregory Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Each of them has his support base and each of them is hopeful of victory. They have traversed the length and breadth of this country in their mobilisation efforts. They have engaged Nigerians in open rallies and town hall meetings, including holding media chats and debates where they told of their intentions when elected. Each of them has journeyed over the oceans and parlayed with the Americans and Europeans, those whom we copy our systems of governments from and look towards for approval.
Our prayer should be: may the best among them win, because all of them are good in their ways and each has a track record worth commending.
Tinubu of the APC has been acclaimed for improving Lagos and identifying outstanding talents for public office, among whom is Yemi Osinbajo.
Atiku Abubakar, too, has been credited with creating institutions and building men, notable among whom is Nasir el-Rufa’i.
Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso had developed Kano and educated as well as developed men, among whom is Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Peter Obi has shown prudence while he was the governor of Anambra State and God knows Nigeria needs a prudent leader.
Therefore, any who emerges among these four giants should be okay. Those who say a Fulani – even though they are ignorant of the fact that both Atiku and Kwankwaso are not Fulani – should not be president twice because Buhari has done it, refuse to acknowledge that Asiwaju and Olusegun Obasanjo are both Yorubas.
If we have refused to acknowledge that if the turn is the South’s, then it should be the South East’s turn, then we should not raise any dust whoever emerges as president.
There is nothing religious about any of the tickets or candidates. To begin with, any position that is Islamic will not be contested for by a Christian and vice versa. And this is why no Muslim president will begin minuting on a file with the name of Allah or a Christian in the name of Jesus. Each one of them will preside over Nigeria according to the dictates of the constitution, nothing more, nothing less.
The two leading Muslim contenders have all identified with Christians. For instance, Atiku Abubakar has praised the agenda for national development brought to him by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) while Tinubu has assuaged their fears over the Muslim-Muslim ticket by telling Christians that his wife is a pastor and some of his children are Christians. His running mate, Kashim Shettima, had earlier told Muslims that their interests would be taken care of by the Sultan of Sokoto while saying he had rebuilt thousands of churches as well as taken thousands of Christians to Jerusalem.
Therefore, we should not allow ourselves to love or fight for any of them based on their ethnicity or religion because none of these defines any of them.
When our candidate wins, we should not jubilate to the extent of touching on the raw nerves of those whose candidates lost. And if our candidate loses, that should not infuriate us to the extent of taking it out on those celebrating.
In whatever we do, we should be mindful that the politicians — both losers and winners — have a way of making up, patching ruptured relationships and coming together for their good, or the nation’s, whichever.
The average person who will fight his friends, neighbours and family will in the end be the one at the receiving end and he may even lose his life in the process. And the world wouldn’t pause on its track or look back when that happened.
Therefore, what we must avoid are two things: fake news and those who may not accept the results based on their expectations that may not have conformed to reality.
And this is where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should help by promptly announcing authentic results as they come in. It should give no room for doubt or controversies in any of its activities.
The media, too, has a responsibility to do all they can not to stoke the embers of discord and anarchy in the land. News reports need to be sieved to keep out all that can cause disaffection. They should not publish unauthenticated results for whatever reasons. Social media netizens should try as much as possible to be patriotic by being more responsible in the way they handle election results; everything should be about national interest.
But for our gallant security agencies, perhaps there would be no Nigeria by now. Now is also their time. They have been called to duty again, and they are required and expected, as always, to protect and be there for us and our dear country.
What is incumbent upon us is to pray to our creator to give us peace and stability and anoint for us the best as He sees fit from among the contestants, and not necessarily as we feel. And we should accept His choice through the thumbprints of the majority.
However, if we close our eyes to the truth and, for some untenable sentiments, use our thumbs to elect the unfit, then I leave us with Abraham Lincoln’s statement: “Elections belong to the people; it’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” And they will, probably, for eight years.
Hassan Gimba is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Neptune Prime.