By Kayode Adeoti
Following the announcement of President Muhammadu Buhari as winner of Saturday’s Presidential election, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has rejected the results saying he will reclaim his mandate in the court.
The former vice president described the presidential election as the worst poll in the history of the country.
Abubakar, who was defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari with over three million votes stated this during a world conference held in Abuja yesterday and monitored in Ilorin.
According to him, the election was marred by massive fraud describing votes recorded in states like Akwa-Ibom, Delta, Rivers, Abia and Benue as ‘impossible’.
He said, “I thank the Nigerian people who trooped out in their millions to perform their civic duty this past Saturday. The patriotism of Nigerians is heart warming and affirms my oft-repeated statement that we are brothers and sisters born from the womb of one mother; Nigeria.
“With regards to the presidential election that took place on February 23, 2019, it is clear that there were manifest and premeditated malpractices in many states which negate the results announced.”
Atiku added that one obvious red flag in the poll is the statistical impossibility of states ravaged by the war on terror generating much higher voter turnouts than peaceful states.
“The suppressed votes in my strongholds are so apparent and amateurish, that I am ashamed as a Nigerian that such could be allowed to happen. How can total votes in Akwa Ibom, for instance, be 50 per cent less than that of 2015?
“Another glaring anomaly is the disruption of voting in strongholds of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and other states, with the authorities doing little or nothing and in some cases facilitating these unfortunate situations,” he said.
He also stressed that the militarisation of the electoral process is a disservice to the nation’s democracy and a throwback to the jackboot era of military dictatorship.
He said, in states like, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Imo states, troops deployed for the elections turned their guns on the very citizens they were meant to protect saying the development is condemnable and it should not be associated with electoral process in the future.
“I am a democrat and there are democratic avenues available to present the truth to the nation and the watching world. Already, many international observers have given their verdicts, which corroborate our observations. I am sure more will come in the coming hours and days.
“If I had lost in a free and fair election, I would have called the victor within seconds of my being aware of his victory to offer not just my congratulations, but my services to help unite Nigeria by being a bridge between the North and the South. However, in my democratic struggles for the past three decades, I have never seen our democracy so debased as it was on Saturday, February 23, 2019.
“Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court.”
He however urged his supporters to remain calm and steadfast saying his victory is certain at the end.
Results declared by Commission verified, says UK
The United Kingdom (UK) has said Nigerians can have confidence in the outcome of Saturday’s presidential election.
UK’s minister of state for Africa, Harriett Baldwin, in a statement issued yesterday, said the result declared was consistent with the civil society parallel vote tabulation process.
“I offer my congratulations to President Buhari on securing a second term as the Nigerian President,” she said in the statement.
“The UK is a long-standing friend and partner of Nigeria and the Nigerian people, and a stable and prosperous Nigeria benefits Africa and the world.
“The Nigerian people have demonstrated resilience and a commitment to democracy. The result declared by the Nigerian election commission is consistent with the result obtained through the civil society Parallel Vote Tabulation process. Along with our international partners, the UK believes the Nigerian people can have confidence in the result.”
Atiku had rejected the result describing the election as the worst in the history of Nigeria. Following the announcement on Wednesday, he said the election witnessed an implementation of grant theft of the people’s will.
Reacting, however, Baldwin urged the opposition to challenge the result in a peaceful manner.
“We also recognise that independent Nigerian voices have expressed concerns about the conduct of the electoral process, in particular logistics and results collation, and reports of intimidation of election officials,” she said.
“We urge any party or individual who wishes to challenge the process to do so peacefully and through the appropriate legal channel and we encourage Nigerian authorities to examine all allegations of wrongdoing carefully, and take the necessary action against individuals found responsible.
“My thoughts are also with the families and friends of those who lost their lives in election-related violence. No one should die in the exercise of their democratic rights. We will continue to support Nigeria and its civil society in drawing lessons from these elections and strengthening its democracy.”
We won’t recognise Buhari as president beyond May 29 – Opposition parties
Opposition political parties under the aegis of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) have vowed not to recognise Muhammadu Buhari as the nation’s President beyond May 29, 2019.
They said they would ensure, within civil means, that Buhari did not enjoy what they called a stolen mandate based on his declaration as the winner of last Saturday’s presidential election.
The coalition’s national spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere, made the political parties’ position known in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.
He urged Nigerians to continue to support opposition parties in their quest to retrieve the mandate for the rightful owner.
He said, “The opposition rejects the cooked and panel beaten figures and will not recognise General Muhammadu Buhari as the carrier of legitimate mandate beyond May 29, 2019.
Describing Buhari’s victory as pyrrhic, Ugochinyere claimed that there is evidence nationwide that the 2019 presidential election was a clear departure from the electoral gains made in 2015.
He said it was glaring that the ruling All Progressives Congress massively stole votes and suppressed votes of the opposition to such an extent that the election is the worst since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999.
