ASO ROCK WATCH: As Tinubu mulls national unity. Two other talking points

Last week, President Bola Tinubu welcomed the ruling of the five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, and assured Nigerians of his determination to deliver a unified, and prosperous Nigeria.

We tracked two other stories from the presidency within the week under review.

1. As Tinubu mulls national unity

After receiving the news that his victory at the February 25 presidential election had been upheld by the PEPC which struck out the cases filed by the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Tinubu called on the petitioners to support his government.

The President, who made the call for their support while participating in the G-20 summit in India, said it was for national interest.

Tinubu’s call for support reminds all that politics is an interest-driven game where the winner may decide to take all or build bridges of accommodation to give an air of inclusiveness in governance.

His appeal to Atiku, and Obi can be categorised as his attempt to form an all-inclusive government, and close the widening ethnic, and political differences among Nigerians, stemming from the outcome of the presidential poll.

The President’s appeal, however, has gone unheeded as Atiku, and Obi have rejected the PEPC judgement, and declared their intention to head for the Supreme Court.

It would, therefore, be interesting to see how the move helps their cause and enriches the country’s jurisprudence and institutions.

Two other talking points

2. Boko Haram’s $9 billion damages

The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on September 9, disclosed that the Boko Haram insurgency had inflicted $9 billion damages to the North-East region.

READ ALSO:ASO ROCK WATCH: On Tinubu’s charge to ministers. Two other talking points

“Boko Haram insurgency had inflicted damages in the North-East to the tune of $9 billion…” Shettima stated while inaugurating the distribution of palliatives in the North-East, according to a statement issued by the Director of Information in his office, Olusola Abiola.

Shettima’s revelation brings to fore the evils of terrorism and highlights how the Boko Haram sect has, particularly, wrecked the socio-economic development of the North-East, and the country at large.

It raises further concerns about the billions of Naira pumped into fighting terrorism and how the monies may have been stolen or frittered away while the economy stays battered and the masses suffer neglect.

Will Shettima and his principal, Tinubu, bring enduring change? Nigerians watch and wait.

3. ‘Time for politicking is over’

On September 8, the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, said the time for politics was over, and that it was time to work together in order to make Nigeria better.

According to a statement issued by Tinubu’s spokesperson, Busola Kukoyi, Oluremi spoke when wives of Nigerian ministers paid her a visit in her office in Abuja.
“Politics is over. Every state we want to really affect. We want to go in there because it is our state. Nigeria belongs to all of us,” the statement read in part.

Her message, though a typical refrain by politicians, may have been intended to complement underground moves aimed at building coalitions that could stabilize the political space after the last disputed polls.

For sure, it serves as a call for Nigerians of all political affiliations, and allegiance to drop their difference, and contribute their quota towards addressing Nigeria’s myriad of challenges.

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