Atiku rejects Buhari’s victory, heads for court
 |
|
From the polling boots and the collation centres, the battle for president is set for the court room.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar yesterday rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the February 23 election and announced his plan to launch a legal fight.
Atiku said he would have called to concede defeat to the incumbent if he had lost in a free and transparent election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had at 4.39 a.m. yesterday, declared All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Buhari winner after the collation of results at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
Atiku’s rejection of the result was contained in a statement entitled: “Democracy will not be emasculated in Nigeria”. He alleged that democracy was debased in the conduct of the elections and said:
“Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court.”
Stating his objection to the outcome of the election as announced by INEC, the PDP candidate said: “With regards to the presidential elections 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.
“One obvious red flag 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 what they were in 2015?
“Another glaring anomaly is the disruption of voting in strongholds of the PDP in Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and diverse other states, with the authorities doing little or nothing and in some cases facilitating these unfortunate situations.
“The militarisation of the electoral process is a disservice to our democracy and a throwback to the jackboot era of military dictatorship. In some areas of the country, such as Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Imo states, troops deployed for the elections turned their guns on the very citizens they were meant to protect. This is condemnable and should not be associated with our electoral process in the future.
Read also: Peaceful polls victory for Nigeria, says Buhari
“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.”
The PDP candidate said he would have called to congratulate President Buhari within seconds of being aware of his victory if he had lost in a free and fair election.
He added that he had struggled over the years to help unite Nigeria by being a bridge between the North and the South.
Atiku went on: “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.
“2007 was a challenge, but President Yar’ Adua was remorseful. In 2019, it is sad to see those who trampled on democracy thumping their noses down on the Nigerian people.
“I want to assure my supporters and the entire Nigerian people that together, we will not allow democracy to be emasculated.
“I hope and pray Nigerians will someday summon the courage to defend democracy. That is the only way we can move away from being the world headquarters for extreme poverty.”
The PDP candidate thanked Nigerians for trooping out in their millions to perform their civic duty on the Election Day.
“The patriotism of Nigerians is heartwarming and affirms my often repeated statement that we are brothers and sisters born from the womb of one mother Nigeria,” Atiku added.
Also yesterday, Atiku addressed a world conference in Abuja and described the outcome of the election as the implementation of “grand theft” of the people’s will. According to him, the figures declared by INEC did not add up.
He said: “We have the real figures, we have the facts that were spoken so loudly on Saturday, February 23, 2019. Let me say that I am not speaking as a member of the PDP, I am speaking as a Nigerian when I say that the electoral fraud perpetrated … this past Saturday cannot produce a government of the people for the simple reason that it does not reflect the will of the Nigerian people.
“It is for this reason that I, Atiku Abubakar, reject the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission declaring Muhammadu Buhari as duly returned by the majority of lawful votes.
“I am conferring with not just my party, but also with the Nigerian people, on next steps, which will be revealed to the public shortly.”
He urged his supporters to remain calm and steadfast, saying that Rome was not built in a day.
“This is a long journey, but I am confident of victory. All hope is not lost. Stay strong, by the grace of God we shall triumph”, Atiku declared.
Going specific, the PDP candidate said that in Akwa-Ibom State for instance, the results showed a statistical impossibility of a 62 per cent drop in the number of voters from the 2015 elections even when voter registration and PVC collection rates were much higher than in 2015.
He said the pattern was repeated in strongholds of the PDP, including in Delta, Rivers, Abia and Benue states.
Lamenting further, Atiku said: “As this was occurring, we saw another statistical impossibility wherein voter turnout and numbers increased astronomically in Borno State by an almost miraculous 82 per cent in the midst of increased insecurity.
“This pattern was also repeated in other strongholds of the APC One begins to ask if insecurity is conducive to higher voter turnouts and security is antithetical to high voter turnout.
“It is further curious that the PDP’s margin of victory in states outside the Southeast and Southsouth were extremely slim across board. That again is a statistical impossibility.
|
No comments