By CHARLES IWUOHA

Ebonyi State Governor, Engr David Umahi, has declared that no power can reverse the mandate of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President-elect.

This is against rising anxieties in some quarters over the fate of Tinubu at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal

Umahi made the declaration on Tuesday while receiving the Ebonyi State Governor-elect, Rt Hon. Francis Nwifuru, at the new Government House, Centenary City, Abakaliki.

Nwifuru was in the Governor’s Office to present to Umahi his INEC Certificate of Return and appreciate the Governor for his support which gave him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) victory at the recently concluded governorship polls.

Addressing journalists at the event, Governor Umahi dedicated the victory of the party in the state and across the country to God.

He maintained that those seeking to upturn the victories at the tribunal were simply wasting their time and resources, adding that the party merited all it got at the polls.

He advised those thinking they would rob Tinubu of his mandate to have a re-think, insisting that Tinubu cannot be stopped.

“There is no power or force that will remove Tinubu from being the President, because the time God would have stopped him, God allowed him.

“Because God allowed him, no man can stop him.

“And this extreme politics should be deemphasized in Nigeria so we can move forward, in a better Nigeria,” Umahi said.

Turning to the Governor-elect, Governor Umahi praised the qualities and character of Nwifuru, stressing that his election was built upon the platform of equity, peace and love in Ebonyi State and nurtured by all men of goodwill. He maintained that should the election be held again, the APC will still carry the day.

His words: “When people say they are going to Court or going to tribunal, I will just laugh

“The PDP got the little number they got in our State because the election became local in the sense that they had House of Assembly members from the various localities that were making efforts to also win.

“That’s why they got eighty thousand, against our One hundred and ninety-nine thousand votes; a clear difference of almost One hundred and twenty thousand.

Umahi further urged the Ebonyi Governor-elect to consider for appointment into his team, younger generations, adding that the youths should be given more opportunities to contribute their knowledge to governance.

He also made a case for increased number of women appointees in the coming administration, up to 50 percent

Presenting the Certificate of Return to Umahi, Nwifuru described him Governor as “the man that made all that happened to happen.”

He appreciated the Governor for standing strong for equity and justice in the state.

Nwifuru added: “Your Excellency, I am here this afternoon to present to you the Certificate of Return issued to me by the Independent National Electoral Commission on that fateful day made by the Lord, the 29^thday of March, 2023, while you were away.”