President Muhammadu Buhari will not intervene to help his party win supplementary elections in six states where they are scheduled, the presidency has said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has fixed March 23 for supplementary elections in six states (Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto) where elections were declared inconclusive.
Of the six states, the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was leading in five, while Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), was leading in Plateau.
The presidency in a statement by Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said it was aware APC members were criticising Buhari for not interfering in the electoral process to favour them.
“Interestingly, while members of the ruling APC were criticising the president for not interfering on their behalf, members of the opposition were condemning the president based on their assumptions that he would definitely interfere, as many in the opposition did while in power,” Shehu wrote.
The presidency cautioned against a lot of the hate spewing, incitement to violence and the polarizing statements by so-called political leaders as a number of states brace up for supplementary elections prescribed by the National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The presidency also rejects unfair and ridiculous criticisms of President Muhammadu Buhari’s apparent disinterest in the upcoming elections in some states by party members who wrongfully assume that the president will abuse power by changing results to favour them.
The statement added that past presidents of Nigeria were known to interfere in inconclusive elections, and that is why party members appear to be upset that the same thing is not happening now, but President Buhari is a different kind of leader. He swore to defend the constitution and will not veer off from that.
“The constitution of Nigeria gives the President no such powers. It is unfair and ridiculous to criticise President Buhari for not going against the constitution,” the presidency said.
It added that party members in states where there will be supplementary elections then need to be reminded that they need to work hard to earn their people’s votes, rather than expect President Buhari to manipulate INEC in their favour.
… APC alleges fraud in all states except Plateau
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged fraud in the governorship elections in five of the six states where supplementary elections have been scheduled.
The electoral commission, INEC, has fixed March 23 for supplementary elections in six states (Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto) where elections were declared inconclusive.
The ruling party faulted the elections or the result collation process in the five states it was trailing but commended the process in Plateau.
The APC also accused INEC of conniving with the PDP in Rivers where the electoral commission is yet to declare the results of the governorship election.
The APC stated its stance in a statement by its spokesperson, Lanre Issa-Onilu.
“After the March 9 governorship elections across the country, the polls in six states – Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto – were declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The electoral process was also suspended in Rivers state in a very fraudulent circumstance.
“Post election, Nigerians will recall that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had severally raised alarm over the plot by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to use violence, vote-buying and other election malpractices to subvert the will of the electorate and steal their mandate.
“The shocking events leading to the last-minute postponement of the presidential election provided clear evidence with PDP agents caught in different parts of the country with programmed card readers, sensitive election materials and large cache of weapons and security paraphernalia, the statement said.
It added that the PDP executed its rigging plot through its agents across the country by unleashing violence, vote-buying and hijacking election materials to rig and falsify elections results. The result was violent disruption in many polling areas and over-voting which led to many cancelled votes and ultimately the supplementary elections and suspended exercise in some states.
