A few disgruntled candidates demanded an interim national government and protested the president-elect’s planned inauguration. However, it was announced to defense reporters at the Defense Headquarters in Abuja that the military would make sure that the inauguration did not get delayed. Yunusa Tanko, the chief spokesperson for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, insisted that the military still needed to learn a lot about the rule of law, especially the Electoral Act. Tanko questioned how the security service, which “did nothing at all when thugs were stealing ballot boxes and threatening voters, could suddenly wake up and proclaim that it would deal with those preparing to disrupt the May 29 inauguration.
It is really depressing when the rule of law is undermined at the expense of the populace, he remarked. We stand by the Electoral Act, which mandates that all pre-election problems be resolved prior to the oath of office. The Africa Action Congress brushed off the military’s warning, calling it “nothing but the usual gossip” coming from Nigerian intelligence services. The right of the populace to protest or engage in acts of civil disobedience prior to, during, or following the swearing-in of the president-elect was emphasized.
