Nigeria's Presidential election: Protest breaks out in Abuja, nation's capital

Protest has erupted in Abuja, the nation’s capital over the outcome of the just-concluded presidential election in Nigeria.

Clad in black attires with placards bearing various inscriptions, such as “We stand for Justice,” “We fight for a new Nigeria,” “President Buhari keep your promise,” “Democracy not INECcracy” who owns Nigeria? The people,'” the protesters under the aegis of Free Nigeria Movement, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to save Nigeria from collapsing by immediately sacking Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Speaking after he led the group to the INEC headquarters in Abuja, convener of the demonstration, Moses Ogidi Paul said Yakubu should be sacked allegedly supervising what they described as a fraudulent presidential election.

He said, “We cannot afford to continue the culture of performing lawlessness without consequences. We are as strong as our laws and as tall as our institutions. We cannot afford to descend any lower than this.

“We therefore call on President Muhammadu Buhari, whose commitment to free and fair elections is engraved in the legacy of the Electoral Act 2022, to initiate processes and procedures that will bring Nigeria under the control of an interim government pending the resolution of all litigations pertaining to the conduct of the February 25 presidential election.

“Our country needs healing. It will be counterproductive to allow a fraudulent process to subsist as fraud will eternally birth fraud. We cannot grow our democracy on falsehood and suspicion.

“The holes in our national fabric must be woven shut. One way is to immediately establish a Truth and Reconciliation Committee in Lagos State and other flashpoints of voter intimidation and violence during the presidential, national assembly, governorship and state assembly elections. This will help build trust, confidence and further ethnic cooperation among Nigerians.”