TheCable

Kabir Marafa, a former senator representing Zamfara central, says Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, presidential candidates of opposition parties, should join hands with President Bola Tinubu to move Nigeria forward.

Marafa spoke on Sunday while speaking with State House correspondents after a private visit to the president.

The supreme court had on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the opposition parties and their candidates, seeking to nullify the victory of Tinubu in the February 25 election.

Speaking on whether the president should form a government of national unity, Maraafa said the decision was for the president to make.

“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 said.

“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 judgement 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 that you need all hands on deck to succeed, especially in a complex country like Nigeria.

“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.”