The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, and the Minority Caucus, have all wished Nigerians a happy new year and encouraged them not to give up regardless of the country’s difficulties.
In 2023, Nigerians will elect new leaders to steer the nation’s affairs, according to Gbajabiamila, making that year vital for the nation’s residents. The Speaker expressed optimism about the chances and prospects that lie ahead and asked Nigerians to maintain their will and determination as a nation.
This was said by Gbajabiamila in a press release by Lanre Lasisi, Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, under the heading “Gbajabiamila Greets Nigerians at New Year…Says 2023 is a Defining Year.”
The Speaker called 2023 a pivotal year for Nigeria and urged its people to unify and speak out as a one voice. In 2023, he wished Nigerians well both individually and collectively and urged them to hope for peaceful elections.
In a New Year’s message headed “New Year: Don’t Lose Hope, Wase Urges Nigerians,” released by his Chief Press Secretary, Umar Puma, Wase asked Nigerians to have faith in their leaders and to keep praying for them to have the wisdom to govern well at all levels.
Part of the statement read; “On behalf of my family and constituents, I wish to heartily rejoice with all our countrymen and women for seeing off the year 2022 and successfully entering 2023. I urged all Nigerians to be prayerful as we prepared to elect new leaders come February 2023.
“I thank the Almighty Allah for keeping us going and keeping Nigeria as one, I urge you not to despair but to remain patriotic as ever and believe that no matter how difficult things may be, there will be light at the end of the tunnel.”
In a separate statement, the House Minority Caucus asked Nigerians to maintain their unity, get ready, and form a strong front in the fight to free our country from tyrannical forces.
The Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, said this in a statement headed, “Brace up for National Recovery, Reps Minority Caucus Urges Nigerians on New Year.”
The statement read, “Indeed, as a people, we must step into the New Year with thanksgiving to God for the miracle of surviving the suffocating economic hardship, escalated insecurity and myriads of suppressive experiences occasioned by the misrule of the incompetent, insensitive and very corrupt All Progressives Congress.
“The New Year presents a fresh opportunity for us as Nigerians to rekindle our sense of patriotism, love, care and commitment to one another as we redirect our 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 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.”
The caucus urged Nigerians to “firmly resist all selfish and anti-democratic forces that might attempt to distract or subvert their will in the elections.”
The opposition lawmakers added, “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 Minority Caucus urges President Muhammadu Buhari to write his name in gold by ensuring that he leaves a lasting legacy of a leader that ensured free and fair election and hand over to whoever Nigerians genuinely elect in the forthcoming presidential election irrespective of the party the individual belongs to.
“Furthermore, as the nation prepares for a new lease of life under a new order, our caucus demands in very strong terms that the APC administration should not continue to worsen the already perilous situation but use the turn of the year to end its unrestrained borrowing and reckless accumulation of debts with which it decimated our productive sectors and mortgaged the future of our nation. Nigerians earnestly desire a government that truly works in their interest and 2023 holds the promise.”
