The Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) has denounced political actors who are attempting to sabotage the May 29 handover by putting in place a National Interim Government.
According to PULSENETS, several political heavyweights who were dissatisfied with the results of the presidential election on February 25 reportedly promised that Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, would not take office on May 29.
In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, there have been a number of demonstrations calling for the annulment of the election that they claim was rigged in favor of the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC).
Remember that the Department of State Services (DSS), on Wednesday warned of a possible scheme to establish an interim government and claimed to have identified some of the plot’s major participants.
According to the secret police, the scheme to establish an interim administration meant to disregard the constitution, undermine civil rule, and throw the nation into an avoidable crisis.
Supporters of the ruling party and the president-elect pledged to foil the conspiracy and insisted that the former Lagos Governor must be sworn in on May 29 as required by the nation’s constitution, prompting reactions across the nation to the DSS’s security notice.
In a conversation with PULSENETS, Yerima Shettima, National President of AYCF, discussed the situation and claimed that the plot would be pointless.
He emphasized that people advocating for an interim government were unaware of the consequences while asserting that some Nigerians made enormous sacrifices, even the ultimate price, for the current democracy.
He said, “Often, when I hear people talk about an interim government, I see them as dreamers living on the figment of their imagination, which is an expensive joke.
“We dare those proponents of interim government, again and again, to try rubbish and see what will happen. These are people that can best be described as enemies of democracy. Some of us are not finding this language funny.
“I remember vividly in the 90s when we were very young in the struggle; when we were in the trenches with senior comrades such as Gani Fawehinmi, Anthony Enahoro, Wole Soyinka, and the rest of them. I remember vividly that that illegality happened but by then we were not strong enough to do anything. But today, we dare those characters.
“Let them try it after all our sacrifices for democracy. This is because those calling for an interim government have not made any sacrifice for democracy. They have not paid any dues and have not been in the trenches. They only saw themselves in the corridors of power by mere opportunity. They have not made a single sacrifice.
“But some of us who were in the trenches at the time of the dark days of the military, and suffered a lot of incarceration in the hands of one military dictator to another won’t allow such to happen. As a matter of fact, we lost some of our comrades to the struggle because we yearned for democracy.
“I also remember that some of our comrades were jailed and to date, their lives cannot be the same. Only a few of us are opportune to stay strong to date to give the story of what happened during those dark days.
“And if anybody just wakes up from his hangover to talk about interim government, God will not forgive that person. We are waiting, we are determined.
“Let us wait and see what will happen between now and May 29. Let them not hand over power to the president-elect and see what will happen. We will occupy this country. They have never seen what they will see this time around.
“Let them not joke with us. We are determined and willing to ensure that democracy has come to stay in this country. Nobody can undermine this democracy. We will not allow those enemies to succeed. Again, we will never!”
