The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, on Wednesday said Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, will not succeed in his quest to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari through the election tribunal.
Mr Akiolu advised Mr Atiku to drop his case against Mr Buhari’s re-election, saying he strongly believed the president had the mandate of Nigerians and would finish his second term in office.
The traditional ruler also launched an attack on former president Olusegun Obasanjo. He said his self-acclaimed powers had been demystified by Mr Buhari’s re-election.
The Lagos monarch spoke when participants of the Senior Executive Course 41 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, visited him in his palace.
The NIPPS delegation is in the state for a study tour of its health sector. The visit is coordinated by NIPSS in collaboration with the Development Research and Project Centre (DRPC) through PACFAH@Scale.
“If anyone of you here is close to Atiku, tell him he can never succeed in what he is doing now.
“Buhari will complete his term in office, but Buhari too has to listen to the people, pray to God and be honest in what he is doing,” the Oba said.
Mr Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was the main challenger to President Buhari at the February 23 elections.
On February 27, the electoral umpire declared Mr Buhari winner of the elections, and issued him a certificate of return for a second four-year term starting May 29.
Mr Abubakar and his party challenged the results at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal two months ago, saying he won the election and was in possession of evidence that would upturn the declared outcome.
Mr Abubakar’s legal team submitted a different result to the tribunal, which showed the former vice-president as the winner of the election.
His lawyers said the results were released by an INEC whistle-blower who had access to the commission’s internal server and other tools throughout the election.
In its initial response to Mr Abubakar’s petition, INEC strongly denied operating a server during the election, accusing Mr Abubakar of circulating fake results for the purpose of his petition.
Mr Buhari and his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) also sided with INEC and alleged criminal interception of a public institution’s communication by Mr Abubakar and the PDP.
