By Charles Adingupu
With less than 14 days to the swearing-in of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba has warned political actors trying to frustrate the inauguration of newly elected leaders to stay off.
The IGP insisted that May 29 inauguration of former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu as the President of Nigeria remains sacrosanct and can’t be altered.
“The 29th May, 2023 date for the swearing-in ceremony of the President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and indeed, other inauguration ceremonies at national and State levels is sacrosanct,” the IGP said while briefing reporters in Abuja on Monday.
He vowed to do everything possible within the limit of his powers and in collaboration with other security operatives to defend democracy.
He said that it is expected that true democrats would subsume their personal political ambition under overriding national security and democratic interests of the country.
The IGP said, “Unfortunately, the public utterances of some political actors and their current attempts at inciting public protests with a view to creating national tension ahead of the Presidential Swearing-in ceremony, do not only negate these values, but they are also manifestly subversive, undemocratic, unconstitutional.
“Firstly, the Nigeria Police hereby sternly warns all political actors with subversive agenda and their collaborators, particularly, their foot soldiers who they are exposing to political radicalization and extremism to, henceforth, jettison their ongoing premeditated attempts to create tension within the national space with intention of derailing the 29th May 2023 Presidential Inauguration Ceremony.
“Secondly, any such persons, regardless of their political affiliations who continuously engage in acts that are inimical to our nation’s democracy, and security interests should not be in doubt on the firm determination of the Nigeria Police under my watch to closely collaborate with the law enforcement family and the intelligence community to defend our democracy, keep the internal security order stable and optimally deploy our common unique assets towards guaranteeing the successful conduct of the Presidential Inauguration Ceremony
“Thirdly, we note that the Inauguration Ceremonies at all the national and State levels of government are critical constitutional requirement for the sustenance of our political order as a nation, and the Nigeria Police is duty and legally bound to defend our democratic heritage and closely police the constitutional processes.
Consequently, I assure the citizens that our loyalty to our democratic and political order remains firm and unwavering. We will defend our democracy at all costs.” the IGP declared.
