…says it’s sham election
By Chioma Obinagwam
The recent announcement of the incumbent President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, as winner of the 2019 Presidential elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has got the candidate of the major opposition party in Nigeria, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar infuriated and has threatened to challenge the results in court.
Confiance News gathered from Abubakar’s Twitter handle @atiku earlier today.
“I want to assure my supporters and the entire Nigerian people that together, we will not allow democracy to be emasculated. Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court,” he tweeted.
He, however, noted that he would have congratulated the winner and even offered his services if he had won in a free and fair elections.
“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.
“One obvious red flag is the statistical impossibility of states ravaged by the war on terror generating much higher voter turnouts than peaceful states.
“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, Abubakar continued in his tweets.
He also frowned at the militarisation of the electoral process in addition to the suppression of voters.
The PDP Presidential candidate pointed, “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.
“The militarization of the electoral process is a disservice to our democracy and a throwback to the jackboot era of military dictatorship.
“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.
“Another glaring anomaly is the disruption of voting in strongholds of the Peoples Democratic Party 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 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% less than what they were in 2015?
“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,” he tweeted.
The electoral umpire, INEC had earlier on Wednesday announced that President Muhammadu Buhari has won his re-election bid polling 15,191,847 votes to defeat his biggest opposition, Atiku Abubakar in the presidential elections conducted on February 23.
According the results, Atiku polled 11,262,978 to lose the election with a margin of 3,928,869 votes.
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