President-Elect, Asíwájú Bola Tinubu has condemned what he described as “isolated” cases of infractions, ethnic slurs and violence that have trailed the 2023 general elections, declaring that elections are now over and the healing process must begin.
In what appeared a post mortem of the polls, Tinubu said the March 18 Governorship Election which held across 28 states and the state legislative poll across the 36 states of the Federation have brought the 2023 election cycle to a fitting close.
While he praised President Muhammadu Buhari, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, and other stakeholders, Tinubu said consolidating democratic governance at the sub-national level will bring more development and improved quality of life to the masses.
Condemning the violence and other negative trends that have followed the conduct of the elections, the President-Elect appealed to Nigerians to rose above the foibles of partisanship, ethnicity and religious sentiments and focus more on the “valued strings that bind us together as a people”.
He said; “I am saddened by the reported isolated infractions during the elections and its aftermath in some states. I strongly condemn it. Also, the report of arson after the announcement of governorship results in one state did not represent who we truly are: peace-loving people.
“The physical and verbal assaults committed are unacceptable and antithetical to democratic ethos.
“Elections should be a celebration of our maturing democracy and freedom of choice and ought not to be moments of grief. I am particularly pained by cases of ethnic slurs, which are capable of creating needless mis-characterisation reported in some locations.
“My appeal is for us to rise above our differences, which, in reality, are fewer than the valued strings that bind us together as a people irrespective of the circumstances of our births.
