The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has congratulated Nigerians on the occasion of the New Year, 2023, urging them to forge a formidable front in the determination to rescue the nation from oppressive forces.
Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, in a message to mark the new year, said Nigerians had cause to thank God for “surviving the suffocating economic hardship, escalated insecurity and myriad of suppressive experiences occasioned by the misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
He said the New Year presented a fresh opportunity for Nigerians to rekindle their sense of patriotism, love, care and commitment to one another as they “redirect their productive energies, collective ingenuity, creativity and resourcefulness to reinvent our nation for the good of all.
“The year 2023 is therefore significant, being the year of the much-awaited general elections that will mark the end of eight years of the asphyxiating regime of the APC, as Nigerians march to the polls to elect a new people-oriented leadership to commence the onerous task of rebuilding our nation.
“Our caucus, therefore, urges Nigerians to set aside all parochial personal, group, sectional, ethnic and religious sentiments and focus on the larger national interest and firmly resist all selfish and anti-democratic forces that might attempt to distract or subvert their will in the elections.
“Against this backdrop, all democracy institutions and security agencies must deploy all necessary measures to guarantee a free, fair, transparent, peaceful and credible electoral process where Nigerians freely participate and in which all votes count at the end of the day.”
The caucus urged President Muhammadu Buhari to write his name in gold by ensuring that he left a lasting legacy as a leader that ensured free and fair elections and handed over to whoever Nigerians genuinely elected in the forthcoming presidential election irrespective of the party the individual belonged to.
