In his acceptance speech at the State House, following the conferral of the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) by President Muhammadu Buhari, he assured the nation that he would not let them down.

President-elect Tinubu recognized the rightful aspirations of Nigerians for a better country and affirmed that his administration would consistently seek President Buhari’s counsel whenever necessary.

By doing so, he aims to ensure that the nation’s progress is continuous and in alignment with the nation’s current leadership.

Joining the distinguished ranks of previous recipients, including Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ibrahim Babangida, Ernest Shonekan, Sani Abacha, Umaru Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, and Moshood Abiola, President-elect Tinubu becomes the 16th individual to be bestowed with the prestigious GCFR Honour.

Additionally, President Buhari honored Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima by conferring upon him the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) distinction.

Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, a constitutional lawyer running for president in the 2019 election, and his political party, the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), have filed a new lawsuit with case number CA/CV/259/2023.

Owuru, a 1982 graduate of the Nigerian Bar, has petitioned the Court of Appeal in Abuja to stop President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from swearing in the 2023 President-elect on May 29.

The politician, who participated in the 2019 presidential poll on the platform of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) wants Buhari, the AGF and the INEC stopped from taking any further steps on the 2023 presidential election that produced Tinubu as winner.

Owuru, who claimed to be adjudged constitutional winner of the 2019 presidential election predicated his grouse against inauguration of Tinubu or anybody else as successor to Buhari on the ground that he is the constitutionally adjudged winner of the 2019 election and has not spent his tenure as required by law.

Among others, Owuru insisted that President Buhari has been usurping his tenure of office since 2019 because the Supreme Court has not determined his petition filed in 2019 in which he challenged the purported declaration of Buhari as the election winner.

In his motion on notice marked CA/CV/259/2023 just filled at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, Owuru applied for “An order of prohibitory injunction compelling Buhari, AGF and INEC, their servants, agents and privies to preserve and give due cognizance and abstain from any further undertaking or engaging in any act of usurpation of adjudged acquired Constitutional rights and mandate as winner of the 2019 presidential election.”

He also applied for another order directing and placing on notice that any form of handover inauguration, organized and Superintended by Buhari on 29th May 2023 outside the adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election, subject of the pending appeal, remains and is viewed as an “interim place holder” administration pending the hearing and determination of his substantive appeal on constitutional interpretation thereof.

Listed as respondents in the motion on notice are President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 3rd, respectively.

The motion on notice filed on his behalf by Mr Odion Peter has been served on President Buhari and AGF through their counsel, Mrs Maimuna Lami Ashiru of the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, while that of the INEC was served through the Head of Legal Department and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr S. O Ibrahim.

DAILY POST observed that the motion is supported with an 8-paragraph affidavit praying the Court of Appeal for expeditious hearing before the inauguration of Tinubu.

The affidavit deposed to by an Abuja based legal practitioner, Adebayo Anafowode and filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja expressed apprehension that Owuru’s suit against Buhari would be rendered nugatory unless given quick hearing.

Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for hearing of the suit by the Court of Appeal.

The Presidential candidate gave this assurance while addressing participants at the third Ministerial Performance Review Retreat currently underway at the State House.

Speaking further, Tinubu said as President, he won’t relent until terrorists are completely diminished in the country.

Tinubu said he will identify with the legacies of Buhari and work in the spirit of unity, national purpose that informed the creation of the party.

Tinubu said his government will be devoted to continuity, particularly of projects that will bring prosperity to the citizens, while his guiding principle will be hinged on providing the best of progressive governance and reform the nation.

He added that these three promises will be in furtherance to the nine priority areas of the Buhari administration.

Meanwhile, Buhari is expected to attend the closing ceremony later, where he will sign the Executive Order on improving performance management, coordination and implementation of Presidential priorities of the Federal Government.

Kabir Ibrahim Masari, who hails from the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, is said to be a “place holder” until party stakeholders agree on the suitable vice-presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.

The move by Tinubu and the APC was to meet the statutory requirement and beat the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for political parties to submit the names of presidential candidates and their running mates.

However, Tinubu will today, June 16, meet President Muhammadu Buhari as consultation continues on the issue of his running mate.

A party source said, according to ThisDay: “The name of the running mate submitted would be changed for another northern politician in the next few weeks. The one submitted is just holding the ticket in trust for another candidate to be picked by Tinubu and the party in the next few weeks.

“The candidate is still widely consulting, because the issues around the choice of running mate are many and he is yet to address them all. So, he is still asking for more time to look into it all – whether he is running a Muslim-Muslim or a Muslim-Christian ticket.

“He personally thinks there’s a need for more consultation and that’s what he is doing. The debate on the choice of deputy has assumed a level that is currently greater than the party and the candidate, hence the need for comprehensive consultation, which is what he is doing,” a reliable party source hinted last night.”

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said this in a statement on the commission’s social media pages on Thursday.

The commission set June 17th, 2022 deadline for presidential candidates to name their running mates and also July 15th deadline for state elections.

The statement read, “Similarly, the list of all Presidential and Governorship candidates must be accompanied by the names of their running mates (i.e. Vice Presidential and Deputy Governorship candidates) without which the nomination is invalid.

“All nominations must be uploaded to the portal on/or before the deadlines. The portal will automatically shut down at 6.00 pm (1800hrs) on Friday 17th June 2022 for national elections and 6.00 pm (1800hrs) on Friday 15th July 2022 for State elections.”

The former Lagos State Governor, stated this while reacting to his emergence as the flag bearer for his party in 2023 Presidential election.

He also said Nigeria is back on track following his victory at the just concluded APC National Convention at the Eagle Square in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“President Muhammadu Buhari, please forgive me for taking you this long. I didn’t expect to win, I must be intoxicated for victory,” the APC while mounting the podium to give his acceptance speech.

“We are confident, courageous that this nation is back on track. All our state governors here present, it is not my job alone.”

Tinubu called for unity among other contestants, saying the common goal was to defeat the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He added,  “The competition is now over. Those who did not support me, you have nothing to fear. I owe no grudges or grievance, let us all agree to join hands in defeating the PDP.”

The APC Chieftain had won the election with  a total of 1,271 votes beating Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who each had 235 and 316 votes.

The former Governor of Lagos State was not accompanied by any principal member of the APC.

Tinubu’s visit comes days after Buhari warned members of the APC that they may lose the 2023 general elections to the Peoples Democratic Party if they refused to settle their differences.

Details of the ongoing meeting between President Buhari and Tinubu have not been made public at this time, with speculations from different quarters suggesting it is regarding the 2023 elections.

As one of the founding members of the party, Tinubu has been touted has to succeed President Buhari after his tenure ends in May 2023, receiving endorsements from different both political and sociocultural groups.

The last time Tinubu visited President Buhari was in October 2021.

Babalola, who announced a donation of N50m for the confab, which he said was billed to hold soon at ABUAD hall and ABUAD Inn, said eminent Nigerians, including former Presidents and leading traditional rulers, would be attended to the confab to proffer solutions to the country’s problems.

He said, “The situation in Nigeria today is gruesome and all hands must be on the deck to save it from total collapse. I am proposing ABUAD as the venue of the summit because it is safe, has a Federal Ministry of Aviation-certified helipad, well equipped 400-bed multi-system hospital, among others.

Among personalities that Babalola said would be invited included the Sultan of Sokoto; Alhaji Saad Abubakar; Alaafin of Oyo; Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe and Obi Of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe; Bishop David Oyedepo; Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah; Pastor Enoch Adeboye; Gen. Theophilus Danjuma; Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Prof. Wole Soyinka; and Chief Ayo Adebanjo.