President Bola Tinubu lauded the recently finished 2023 general elections as a true monument to the country’s democratic progress.
According to this online newspaper, Tinubu declared this in his first Democracy Day message to Nigerians as President on Monday.
Tinubu stated that the hotly contested 2023 presidential election proved that democracy is alive and well in the country, and that his administration will work to keep it that way.
The Nigerian leader remarked that the different legal contestations of his victory in the 2023 presidential election are the “beauty of democracy” and is one of the reasons why democracy is still the best form of government invented by man.
He said: “This year, we held the seventh in the cycle of elections that have become sacred rituals of our democratic practice in this dispensation since 1999.
“That the polls were intensely contested is in itself positive evidence that democracy is well and alive in our land. It is only natural that even as those who won and experienced victory in the various elections are elated and fulfilled, those who lost are disenchanted and disappointed.
“But the beauty of democracy is that those who win today can lose tomorrow and those who lose today will have an opportunity to compete and win in the next round of elections.
“Those who cannot endure and accept the pain of defeat in elections do not deserve the joy of victory when it is their turn to triumph.
“Above all, those who disagree with the outcome of the elections are taking full advantage of the constitutional provisions to seek redress in court and that is one of the reasons why democracy is still the best form of government invented by man.”
Speaking on the rule of law, the President said his administration will not condone conflicting and illegal orders that undermine the country’s democracy.
Tinubu also described the bill he signed into law on June 8 for the harmonisation of the retirement age for judicial officers as one of many policy reforms to come.
He said: “It is about the rule of law and vibrant judiciary that can be trusted to deliver justice and strengthen institutions. It has become imperative to state here that the unnecessary illegal orders used to truncate or abridge democracy will no longer be tolerated.
“The recent harmonisation of the retirement age for judicial officers is meant to strengthen the rule of law, which is a critical pillar of democracy. The reform has just started.”
