NINAS faults presidential inauguration, terms poll ‘inconclusive’

The Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) has said the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu is an attempt to “deceive Nigerians and the international community that election has come and gone.”

The group said the submission became more pressing given that the frontrunners in the February 25 election are entangled in a legal battle that could last several months in the belief of getting final pronouncement on actual winner of the poll.

In a statement by a member of the board of conveners, Tony Nnadi, NINAS said with the “inconclusive outcome of the election,” it has renewed its invitation to stakeholders to commence the inevitable union renegotiation and reconfiguration of the country before anarchy overtakes all.

The body maintained that the election is far from being over, adding that neither the “May 29, 2023 swearing in ritual nor the frenetic executive actions of the new President alters the status of the election as inconclusive.”

Nnadi said: “The pretence of carrying on in Abuja as if the 2023 presidential election has come and gone and the winner has settled into office as President is just psychological gimmickry to hoodwink Nigerians and the international community into docility and acquiescence.

“Be it known to all that Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election remains inconclusive and in process until the Supreme Court makes its pinal pronouncement on the outcome of the February 25, 2023 presidential election.

“If a runoff or rerun is ordered, it means that the 2023 presidential electoral process remains ongoing until the runoff or rerun produces an outcome that stands.”

He continued: “The disputed legitimacy of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution; INEC’sdefiance of the stipulations of that Constitution in declaring Bola Tinubu President-elect and the May 29, 2023 swearing in of Tinubu as President despite that 25 per cent of votes constitutional deficiency, there is an urgent need to define the legal status of the governance arrangement that has now emerged over Nigeria.

“For the avoidance of doubt, let it be understood that at law, the entire period between May 29, 2023 and the date of the final resolution of the inconclusive 2023 presidential election as aforementioned (including if the February 25, 2023 exercise is cancelled and a rerun ordered), the stop-gap Presidency inaugurated on the 29th of May 2023 is at best an interregnum.”