Raymond Ozoji, Awka
Anambra state chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Comrade Okechukwu Ifeanyi, has urged Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and all those who contested in the just concluded presidential elections to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election for a second term in office as well as accept the outcome of the election in the spirit of sportsmanship.
Ifeanyi stated this on Thursday during an interactive session with select journalists in Awka. He said that the election has come and gone; that it was time for everyone to ensure that all hands were on deck to assist and support President Buhari to take the country to the next level of sustainable development.
Okechukwu maintained that it was not time to apportion blame or insinuate that the presidential election was marred by massive rigging as he believes that there is nowhere in the world where conduct of elections is 100% correct but urged Nigerians to accept the outcome of the polls and forge ahead. He added that election shouldn’t scatter Nigerians and that the nation’s politicians should emulate their counterparts in other countries where contenders congratulate winners in good faith without resorting to litigation.
The Anambra state TUC helmsman said President Buhari’s re-election was free, fair and credible enough for his co-contestants to welcome the development even as he said that the president was not responsible for the economic hardship in the country. He was of the opinion that the country should lay more emphasis on agriculture and play down on over dependence on crude oil exploration.
He said he believes very strongly in president Buhari to turn the fortunes of the country around especially as he was resolute in taking the Nigerian economy to the next level, stressing that if the APC had not taken over power from the PDP in 2015, no civil servant would receive salaries because they were plunged into what he termed dungeon before president Buhari came on a rescue mission.
According to him, the allegation that there was massive election rigging in the Northern part of the country was baseless because Northerners trooped out to exercise their voting rights while Ndigbo were more concerned with their businesses and other flimsy excuses which affected their turnout for the exercise. He said it was time southeast politicians embarked on voter education and sensitisation to make Ndigbo see the importance of voting during election periods to gain political relevance henceforth.