Some Nigerians on Monday gathered in front of the official residence of the United States President, Joe Biden, to protest against the announcement of Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as winner of the February 25 presidential election.
The protesters urged Biden and the U.S. Congress not to recognise Tinubu as president-elect.
Protesting under the aegis of Nigerian American Coalition for Justice and Democracy Inc, they vowed relentless protests in the US, the UK and across the world to draw global attention to what they described as a “clearly flawed election.”
The group had given a notice in the past week of the planned protest and received permission from the US authorities to go ahead.
But a pro-Tinubu group led by Professor Tai Balofin, Chairman of to the United States chapter of the APC, warned against any protest and vowed to disrupt it with a counter-protest.
While the anti-Tinubu protest went ahead, the pro-Tinubu protesters did not show up according to videos seen by our correspondent.
#Obidients Peaceful Protest 🪧 at US Capitol Hill Steps, Washington DC, USA 🇺🇸. Nigerians across the World 🌎 and across Nigeria 🇳🇬 Totally Reject #APC fraudulent election rigging and violence. #RestoreOurMandateINEC with @AnkaDede and many other well meaning Nigerians pic.twitter.com/xwEXCJo6WZ
— Stephen_Save Nigeria Group USA🇺🇸🇳🇬 (@PeterObiUSA) April 3, 2023
Nigeria 🇳🇬 #RestoreOurMandateINEC Peaceful Protest 🪧 at @WhiteHouse United States 🇺🇸
Hear firsthand testimony from A Nigerian Polling Unit Agent @MigrateGGRLtd Barr. Samuel Adewusi an attorney here in America 🇺🇸, who served in Badagry Area of Lagos. He was live with us at the… pic.twitter.com/AwYWi2pgfO
— Stephen_Save Nigeria Group USA🇺🇸🇳🇬 (@PeterObiUSA) April 3, 2023
The Nigerian White House Protest 🪧 for Democracy and Restoration of our stolen mandate will be live on Facebook on my page. #RestoreOurMandateINEC
Facebook link https://t.co/mzXhgfB4Bz pic.twitter.com/guDJm5yKkm
— Stephen_Save Nigeria Group USA🇺🇸🇳🇬 (@PeterObiUSA) April 3, 2023
The protesters called on Biden and Congress not to congratulate or recognise Tinubu as his emergence is allegedly not the will of the people.
Some of the protesters could be seen carrying placards with various inscriptions like “Nigerians reject the election result”, “Democracy under threat in Nigeria”, “Let Nigerian votes count” among others.
Samuel Adewusi, a lawyer who led the protest explained that he was in Nigeria and was a polling unit agent in Badagry.
“It was serious violence that I witnessed myself.
“They told people: You cannot vote because you look a certain way or you’re from a certain part of Nigeria.
“That is not what Nigeria is all about. That is now what democracy is all about. I can tell you now that It’s a crime against humanity and I think the United States should never stamp on this.
“We Nigerians in the United States should never stamp on this.
“I was doing some work trying to convince regular people to vote for the Labour Party in Badagry West and they were telling me our votes never counted in the past, why should it count now?
“And I told them No, INEC said they have BVAS, and with that same BVAS they would transmit results electronically. I was wrong.
“On February 25th, serving as a polling unit officer, I saw that the BVAS was never used.
“Yes, they filled out the forms and everything but no transmission was done. None. Not in the Badagry West where I served as a polling unit officer,” he said.
Adewusi added that, “Just like our vice-principal said, there is no president-elect. One of the most important things we have to realise is that the person who is elected president has to meet the constitutional requirements,” he said.
“We want the United States Congress to do the right thing — to make sure they stand with the majority of the Nigerian people and make sure that democracy actually prevails in Nigeria,” he urged.
