Why Tinubu Will Work With Obi, Atiku

In order to implement his planned administration of national unity, President Bola Tinubu will be willing to collaborate with his main political opponents, such as Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Former senator representing Zamfara Central senatorial district, Kabiru Marafa, dropped this hint at the weekend in Abuja, while speaking with State House correspondents after meeting behind closed doors with President Bola Tinubu.

Senator Marafa said what the President would do with his political opponents in the February 25 presidential elections would depend on their attitude from the point the apex court delivered its judgment.

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It will be recalled that the Supreme Court had last Thursday, dismissed the appeals filed by both the presidential candidates of the PDP and the LP against the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.

Fielding questions on whether the President would fulfill his pledge of government of national unity, as the court processes were over, the All progressives Congress, APC, chieftain said his (President) rivals needed to put up a good behaviour to encourage him.

He said: “I am not Mr. President but I like the way you put the question ‘do you think’? I know Mr. President is a politician and he knows the game very well.

”He is the one to decide to say; now should I go ahead to form a government of national unity like I wanted to or having seen the behaviour of the participants, I should abandon it?

“Their behaviour from Thursday, I think, will determine what the president will do. If they take the judgment with open hearts and extend a hand of friendship to Mr. President, I know the president will want to work with everybody.

”Governance is something you need all hands on deck to succeed, especially in a complex country like Nigeria.”

He asserted that the former rivals must bury their differences and work together for the sake of the country, saying with the challenges in the land, the president would require all hands on deck to succeed.

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Senator Mafara added: “My prayer and wish for them is to bury their differences and join hands with Mr. President to move the country forward, especially given the problems we have across the nation.

“So, we need all hands on deck now. It is over. They have done what they are supposed to have done. The constitution gives them inherent rights to challenge the victory. But with the verdict of the apex court, the battle is over.

“Like the president said, he is going to concentrate on his job without giving anybody any opportunity to distract him. So, on their part, I wish they would join hands with Mr. President to move the country forward.