Group Rejects Calls For Interim National Government

From left: Chief Ben Ayo Aberera; Secretary of Think Thank for Democracy, Prof. Sylvester Akhaine; Comrade Debo Adeniran; Chief Abiodun Sowunmi; and Special Adviser to Lagos Governor on Drainages, Chief Joe Igbokwe during the briefing in Lagos

A pro-democracy group known as; “Think-Tank for Democracy” has rejected calls from a section of the country for an Interim National Government, following the outcome of the February 25, 2023 presidential in election that was won by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The group stated that there is no need for such in as much as a election had been conducted and a winner has emerged.

Speaking with journalists at a briefing on Wednesday in Lagos, Comrade Debo Adeniran stated that ING was declared as illegal in a case handled by Justice Dolapo Akinsanya of Lagos High Court concerning the government led by the late Ernest Shonekan on November 10, 1993.

He said that therefore the losers should seek redress in the court of law rather than trying to disrupt or truncate Nigeria’s growing democracy.

According to Adeniran, “unknown to many, it has been on the agenda of many anti-democratic elements in the polity to truncate the current democratic process.

“Truly, a segment of the promoters of the interim government contraption feels the need to resolve the national question before proceeding further in our democratic march in ways that clears, once and for all, the bottlenecks to our democratic growth and national development.

“Chief Afe Babalola and Pa Ayo Adebanjo possibly belong to this school of thought. Other proponents of the interim contraption are doing so in order to ambush our democracy.

“It’s regrettable that after over two decades of democracy, the country is still grappling with basic democratic principles, which if not properly handled and effectively checked, have the potential to set us back into the dark days of military dictatorship.

“Unfortunately, many of those who are today parading themselves around as politicians and group, and threatening our nascent democracy without regard to the rule of law, did not play any role during our bloody democratic struggle. Rather, many of them were military apologists at the time,” he stated.

In his submission, Special Adviser to the Lagos Governor on Drainages and author of the book; “Heroes of Democracy” Chief Joe Igbokwe, condemned the agitation in some parts of the nation for an Interim National Government.

According Igbokwe, “as a matter fact, king could come from any part of the country and for you to become king, you must have transversed the length and breath and of the country, crossed so many bridges.”

He said that the President-Elect has built men and women, therefore, the nation should not allow what happened in 1993 to repeat itself.

Also adding his voice, a social commentator and activist, Chief Abiodun Sowunmi stated that he found it so sad and absurd that we found ourselves at this point, roaming about an intention from some quarters.

According to Chief Sowunmi, “none of us here contested any political office, but we contested against the military to bring back democracy to the country.

“We fought and won the battle both at home and abroad. Some of us went into exile because we would not accept any annulment and we would not allowed the country to be ruled by the military again.

“In those days, about 250 persons died on the streets of Lagos, and about 5000 died as a result of the annulment of the 1993 presidential election.

“While some people have decided to be retrogressive, we fought for democracy and we are extremely confident and bolder. We will not allow any person or group of persons to destroy the democracy we fought for.

“Think-Tank For Democracy is a pro-democracy watch guide against any element to destroy democracy, no matter where they stand about the last February 25 presidential election, the fact remains, that there’s no alternative to democracy.”