Tinubu urges Nigerians to shun violence in Saturday’s supplementary elections

Nigeria’s president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged Nigerians to shun violence as supplementary elections hold across the country tomorrow.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct the supplementary elections for 94 legislative seats in federal and state parliaments.

Supplementary governorship elections will also be conducted in both Adamawa and Kebbi states on the same day.

“As the last leg of the 2023 general election, we must ensure that the electoral processes are brought to a final, peaceful conclusion,” Tinubu said in a statement on Friday.

In the general elections, the INEC declared winners for 26 governorship, 104 senatorial, 329 House of Reps members and 935 state assembly seats.

Ahead of Saturday’s poll, Tinubu has called on Nigerians in the areas slated for the polls to conduct themselves peacefully and eschew violence and any act prejudicial to orderly electoral processes.

“I urge all Nigerians in areas where the additional polls will take place to eschew violence and conduct themselves in an orderly and peaceful,” Tinubu said.

“We should desist from acts prejudicial to the conduct of orderly polls or that will threaten the very existence of the country.”

He further said it’s only when there is a country that aspirants to political offices can have seats to contest for and the electorate have people seeking their votes.

Like the INEC officers, the candidates and the electorate, therefore, have a solemn responsibility in this election.

The president-elect urged INEC officers to ensure that the additional polls are conducted not only freely and fairly, but also devoid of tension, acrimony and violence that will threaten the very existence of the country.

“I must also use this opportunity to enjoin my All Progressives Congress members and the teeming supporters in the areas listed for the polls to come out in their large numbers to cast their votes for the party’s candidates,” he said.

“Our party members and supporters should vote overwhelmingly for APC to complement and solidify the victory we recorded in the earlier polls. This will no doubt help in the effective functioning of government at the federal and state levels for the benefit of our people.”