A coalition of veteran Nigerian lawyers and activists in the Diaspora has announced sanctions in demonstration of their rejection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom the members insist did not win the February 25, 2023 election.

The announcement was made at a counter-inaugural White House to mark what the coalition described as “a memorial for the death of Nigerian democracy”.

Speaking through the coordinator, Emmanuel Ogebe, Esq of the US Nigeria Law Group, the coalition declared three action steps:

Nigerian Americans should switch to independent party
Nigerians in Diaspora should stop remitting forex to Nigeria
Nigerians should return to trenches to re-enthrone genuine democracy

Below is the transcript of the gathering at the US White House “to commemorate the death of Nigerian democracy on US memorial holiday May 29 and to protest President Biden’s delegation to Tinubu’s inauguration”:

DATE: Monday, May 29, 2023 Time: 11:00 AM - 2:00PM Washington DC –

Funeral Procession (“God Save Our homeland Nigeria” to tune of South African liberation song Osi sikelele Africa)

Nigerian National Anthem

PART 1 LAWYERS REMARKS

OGEBE – (USNLG)
IHIM – (DIASPORA ALLIANCE)
UKWU – (NADECO USA)

Emmanuel Ogebe, Esq:

Thank you very much.

We are gathered here on May 29th, 2023 for the solemn event of the burial of the late democratic dispensation in Nigeria, which died today as a result of the tragic APC pandemic which destroyed this nation and has ended the erstwhile democracy in Africa's largest and most populous country, Nigeria.

As you may be aware, a criminal element and a terrorist-affiliated element, criminally, unconstitutionally and immorally hijacked a nation of 200 million people and were nefariously sworn into power today in violation of the constitution of the electoral law and the guidelines of the National Electoral Commission.

That action of declaring a false winner at 4:00 AM on March one was not different from the military coup of 1983 when a military rogue declared on the radio station that he had taken over the reins of power.

We are gathered here today in front of the United States White House to mark the demise of democracy in Nigeria and to condemn the President Biden administration for sending a White House delegation at taxpayer expense to go and legitimize a criminal installation of an illegal government in the federal public of Nigeria.

By this singular action, President Biden has made a mockery of democracy in America, and democracy in Africa, and has voted against the future of Nigerian youth and has voted against the desires of the majority of the almost one million Nigerian Americans in this country - some of whom are members of his cabinets.

This afternoon, we will be paying the last respects to the late lamented Nigerian democracy and calling on the United States government, and the international community, to join us in an effort to resurrect and resuscitate genuine democracy in Nigeria. So help us God.

We want to appreciate the Nigerian American citizens who took time out to come out today at short notice, and also the American gentleman, including the gentleman on my right, who has been here in solidarity with the Nigerian people since this protest began in March of this year.

We thank you, sir, for your presence and for your commitment to democracy and human rights around the world. Love you. God bless you. We love you too, sir.

We will now take remarks from my learned colleague, Dr Emmanuel Ihim of Diaspora Alliance. Thank you, Sir.

Dr Emmanuel Ihim, Esq:

Thank you, Emmanuel Ogebe.

Thank you for the great work you do for Nigeria, the United States, and globally. Also, like my learned colleague has also pointed out, today is a very sad day for Nigeria. Today is a very sad day for the friends of Nigeria. Today is a very sad day for all men and women of goodwill who have loved that country. Today, you can rightly see that we are significantly here today to bury democracy in Nigeria.

Democracy has died in Nigeria today. Why? Because Biden decided to congratulate a man that cannot win that election. After the election of February 25th, 2023, a man overwhelmingly won that election and the name of the man was Peter Obi. And rightly so, the whole of Nigeria stood by him in that election. Unfortunately, the INEC who presided over the election, and with the federal government of Nigeria headed by Buhari, they decided to select another man for that incident and went ahead and instead of the United States reprimanding the electoral system and condemning it, he rather complimented them.

He rather congratulated them. That is very appalling. And I am not alone in this position. Every reporter all the nations and all the international community and international organizations that went to observe that election are in accord that that election was a sham. And they <inaudible> the election, members of the Congress too have reprimanded, Biden himself for going ahead to congratulate the selected president-elect, that is wrong.

Today we are at the threshold of Nigeria going to oblivion. We’re at the threshold of the <inaudible> genocide of Rwanda, we’re at the threshold of the terror of Afghanistan. That is the position of Nigeria today. And do you know what? if anything happens to Nigeria and it goes into oblivion, the act of the President of the United States that Biden himself in single handedly, sending a delegation to that sham election will be a record that they facilitated the death of democracy, <inaudible> the death of justice and good governance in Nigeria.

So that is very appalling. We’re at a significant day today. Nigeria has buried democracy today. And again, we want to say, be it as it may, that we believe God, that Nigeria will be revived, we believe God, that Nigerian democracy will one day be resuscitated, and we are not going to give up. We are not going to go home and sleep. We want to let the world know that the man, that the world, I mean that Biden regards as president of Nigeria is not the President of Nigeria, the entire Nigeria will not consider him a president not just because I believe frankly because I believe that inauguration completely violates the Nigeria constitution, completely violate the electoral act of 2002 completely violate even, INEC own manuals.

It was an abrasively fraudulent election that withholds the will of the Nigerian people. So the person in power in that nation will not be recognized as a legitimate president.

He will continually be an illegitimate illegal president because he has overthrown the constitution of Nigeria, we will stand on that constitution to revive it, we will stand on justice, and we will stand on the rule of law in that country. And one day, that country will be restored.

It is my honor to invite a very renowned learned colleague, who has, who is uh, an international attorney, I have the privilege to invite my brother and friend, Lloyd.

Lloyd Ukwu, Esq:

Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Emmanuel Ogebe, Esq:

Yes, a hero and veteran of Nigerian democracy.

Lloyd Ukwu:

I represent the National Democratic Coalition, which is known for short as NADECO. It’s Nigeria’s premier and foremost pro-democracy organization. It has always stood for good governance and the rule of law.

Today, I’m here for two reasons, one is to attend the funeral of Nigeria. The second is to protest the actions of the Biden administration.

Biden administration has agreed with the other international organizations that went to Nigeria to observe the elections that election was flawed, dangerously flawed because it violated the very electoral act of 2022, which was put in place to guide the conduct of the elections.

The INEC, which is supposed to be the Independent National Electoral Commission, also violated its own guidelines.

So clearly there was no doubt that the election was flawed. And we argue that the Biden administration agreed with the rest of the world, that the elections were flawed, by imposing a visa ban on those who hindered the elections by that singular action, it meant that the Biden administration actually agreed that the election was hindered by some group of people.

And then in a very dramatic turn, he calls and congratulates the very individual and individuals that he has meted a visa ban on. So I'm here, as I said earlier, to attend the funeral of Nigeria on behalf of NADECO.

And also to point out this very, very confusing and conflicting signal from the Biden administration. I want to say categorically that Nigeria is going to survive. And when it survives, it’ll never forget those who came to its rescue when it needed help. It would also not forget those who helped in making democracy sure. That’s because they, for whatever reason, we believe that the Biden administration has gotten it wrong.

They’ve got it wrong before, and this is the chance for them to have corrected mistakes by being on the side of Nigerians. But instead, the Biden administration has chosen to be on the side of Nigeria. Nigeria is an abstract name. Nigerians, you can feel, Nigerians are fired up. Nigerians can take it no more. I remember a song we used to sing on this very ground in the seventies, specifically in 1978 when I was a student at Texas Southern University.

At that time, we were protesting the apartheid regime. I want to sing it again. “We're fired up. We can take no more”. (Chants and protesters respond) We're fired up. We can take no more.

Nigerians are fired up. They take no more. Nigerians are fired up. They can take no more. This is not going to be business as usual.

So on behalf of NADECO, we urge Nigerians anywhere you are on this planet to resist this administration.

This administration is a fruit of a poisonous tree. This administration is poisoned from day one. So Nigerians must resist this administration. This is the beginning of the fight. If they think that May 29 is the end of the struggle, they are mistaken. June 12th, 1993 30 years later, it's still on. And this is not gonna be like June 12. This is gonna be hotter than June 12.

This is gonna be hotter than EndSARS.

So for Nigerians, the country belongs to you. Yes, take it back. We shall do our best here, we want you to know that Nigeria must be taken back, not by any other person, but by Nigeria. We call on the youths. We call on the men, we call on women to begin the resistance from today.

So May 29 will be a resistance day. Thank you and thank you very much.

Dr Emmanuel Ihim, Esq:

We want to take this moment like, uh, friends and colleagues, have, rightly pointed out that from today we are all aware that the destiny of the nation, Nigeria is no longer in the hands of Biden. Neither is it in the hands of the United States. Its not in the hands of Britain or in the hands of the Europeans, from today, there are petitions, and applications made in the court to review this election, and restore the mandate of the people, and these applications are before the appeal court tribunal of whom we have some of their photographs here. And if you look at the inscriptions, in some of these photographs, we say, do justice. Stop impunity, and restore the sovereign will of the people. There are several inscriptions in each and every one of these posters calling on the esteemed Justices of the appeal court tribunal to restore justice in Nigeria.

We want to use it, we want to point out, that at this moment, the destiny of Nigeria lies in the, in the hands of these five justices of the appeal court tribunal, and thereafter to those of the esteemed justices of our supreme court. So the destiny of Nigeria lies in their hands. If Nigeria is made, they will be congratulated. If Nigeria is marred, they will be held accountable.

Nigerians are enjoined to look up to them. Nigeria are enjoined to respectfully urge them to do justice at this moment. Respectfully urge them to grant justice to all the, uh, youths of that country, who trooped en mass to vote for their country. Nigerians are urging them to uphold the rule of law. We're urging them to uphold our electoral Acts 2022. We're asking them to do justice for all.

We’re asking them to restore constitutionalism in Nigeria. We’re asking them to restore the democracy which has been buried today. They have the ability to do that. They should look at the law from ordinary common sense. The most contention of all these is that the current illegitimate president, Tinubu, did not win the 25% of FCTf. And it's a very simple interpretation.

We are all lawyers. We don’t need to go to school to know the meaning of “and”. What is the meaning of “and”? That is the bone of contention. A simple interpretation of that will let us know will grant us justice in Nigeria, so that Nigerians can live in peace, live in prosperity, live in democracy. Good governance will be restored. And as they do this if they do, they need <inaudible>, Nigerians will celebrate them and Nigerians will induct them into a hall of fame, the Hall of Fame.

Thank you so much and thank everybody who has made our time to be here today for this moment. We’re grateful for you and may the Lord bless you.

Part four – Closing funeral rites, requiem and action declarations

Emmanuel Ogebe, Esq:

All right, ladies and gentlemen, the rain has intervened, and we will also be closing this protest at this point. The fact that the rain fell showed that even the heavens themselves are weeping at the fact that somebody, a drug accountant who destroyed the lives of many Americans in Chicago is being sworn in as president of Nigeria today.

And President Biden sent a delegation of six people to go and honor a drug mafia accountant who destroyed American lives, as he takes over power in the largest black country on earth.

Heavens wept as we ourselves weep, and at this moment, we are going to say the final rites on the late democracy of Nigeria, which died today, May 29th, 2023, at the hands of General Buhari, at the hands of Professor “Yahoo Yahoobu”, at the hands of…

Today, history was made in Nigeria when the most hated President of Nigeria handed over to the most hated incoming ruler of Nigeria.

That’s never happened in the country before, that the President who was despised handed over to another President who was even more despised.

The president who had no certificate, handed over to a President who had a forged certificate, and the President who executed drug dealers handed over to a drug money launderer, and the heavens wept.

So, ladies and gentlemen, we will wrap up our protest today with three proclamations:

One of them is that we’re calling on all Nigerian Americans from today to register as independent, the Democratic Party has betrayed us, monumentally, and there must be consequences politically. So we're calling on Nigerian Americans to register as independents. we will no longer be enslaved at home and abroad. People who will not protect democratic ideals.

From now on, we'll look at where the pendulum will swing, in favor of democracy and human rights, and there we will cast our vote. We belong to no one, but democracy and human rights and justice.

Our second declaration today is we’re calling on all Nigerians in the diaspora in Europe, Asia, America, and North America, wherever they may be, that we will impose sanctions on Nigeria. Prepare yourself because effective June 1, we must stop dollar remittances into that economy. We cannot prop a government of criminals and criminality, we cannot subsidize unconstitutionality. We cannot subsidize corruption. So prepare yourselves, and inform your family members that they should begin to stockpile food because we're going to shut down that economy with our dollar remittances.
Thirdly, the third declaration we’re making today is that we're going back to the trenches. We’re going back to the trenches to begin the battle for genuine re-enthronement of democracy in Nigeria. What happened today is not a democracy, but a “demockery”. A mockery of demonic political thugs who have through criminality and corruption, hijacked the nation, and that nation must be free again.

So we thank you all for coming out today, and we look forward to continuing to sustain the efforts to liberate the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Thank you, and God bless you. God bless America, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

And to symbolize what has just happened, I am going to do the changing of the guard, which is removing the T-shirt I'm currently wearing, which says, “blessed nation”. And unveiling, another T-shirt under.

You can see that this T-shirt says “blessed nation”, that is – God blessed us. God blessed the nation with human resources and talent, but it has been ruined. And it has been dragged into the ground and so we are burying democracy in Nigeria. Unfortunately, we are unveiling the new face of Nigeria, which is the Nigeria where terrorism, persecution, murder, and criminality are…

A year ago, this month, this young school girl was murdered by her classmates in a government school because they didn't like a WhatsApp message that she texted. And one year later, nobody was convicted for this crime.

Do we have a court? (Protesters “no!”)

Do we have a government?

(Protesters “no!”)

Do we have justice? (Protesters “no!”)

Do we have human rights? (Protesters “no!”)

Do we have religious freedom?

(Protesters “no!”)

And that is why today we are burying Nigeria's democracy. May the soul of our democracy rest in peace and rise again in glory when justice comes to our land.

(Breaks into civil rights negro spiritual dirge)

“We shall overcome,

We shall overcome,

We shall overcome someday…

Deep in my heart,

I do believe,

We shall overcome someday”

Dr Festus:

Let us pray.

Father, we want to thank you for such a wonderful day like this. Father, we're not going to despair because we know you are in control. You rule in heaven and you rule on earth. Father we commit o God Nigeria into your hands, you are never late. He said the future is for an appointed time.

He says we should wait for it even when it tarries because He will surely come. Father, we believe you oh God and we say Lord take absolute control. Father, we pray that, oh God, your presence will cover over Nigeria. There are no evil devices against that nation that we prosper. And Father, any tongue that has risen against Nigeria we stand in the name of Jesus, we condemn them.

Father, we say, have your way o God. Father, our freedom is nearer than when we saw it o God last. Father, we believe you that if we come, thank you oh God, help us o God not to give up hope. Cause Lord, we have seen the light already at the end of the tunnel. But I thank you, God, for being with Nigeria, take absolute control o God, that you are now with the honor o God, in no distant time, to the glory and honor of heaven, and to the glory and honor of your name. Thank you Lord Jesus for… in the mighty name of Jesus we have prayed. Amen.

Okay, so we’re officially done. If you like to take photographs by the White House itself…

RECESSIONAL PROCESSION

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