Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), says the presidential election that produced Bola Tinubu as the
president-elect was marred by “unprecedented fraud”.
Abubakar who addressed a press conference in Abuja on
Thursday said his “heart is full of sadness” following the election that was
conducted on Saturday.
He said the fraud that characterised the election must be
challenged.
Recall that Bola Tinubu was declared the
president-elect and subsequently issued with a certificate of return by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said the “dreams and aspirations of Nigerians who braced
all the challenges to go and cast their votes were shattered by the conduct
INEC which failed to live up to expectations”.
“The weekend election was neither free nor fair. Preliminary
assessments indicate that it is the worst conducted elections since the return
to democratic rule,” Abubakar said,
“The manipulation and fraud that attended this election were
unprecedented in the history of our nation. I can still not understand why the
electoral umpire was in such a hurry to conclude the collation and announcement
of the result, given the number of complaints of irregularities of bypassing of
the BVAS, failure of uploading to the IREV, and unprecedented cancellations and
disenfranchisement of millions of voters in breach of the Electoral Act and the
commission’s own guidelines. It was indeed a rape of democracy.
“Having consulted with leaders of our party and Nigerians
from different walks of life, I have come to the conclusion that the processes
and outcome of the presidential and national assembly election of last Saturday
were grossly flawed in every material particular, and as such must be
challenged.
“This has been attested to by both local and international
observers. I want to believe that this was not the legacy that President
Muhammadu Buhari had promised.”
Abubakar asked Nigerians who are “traumatised” by the
election results to conduct themselves peacefully.
“It is my hope that the judiciary will redeem itself this
time around and rise to society’s expectation as the last hope. In the end, who
wins is not as important as the credibility of our elections and electoral
processes,” he said.
He asked President Muhammadu Bubari to “make amends for the
good of our country and the future generations and indeed to assure his
legacy”.
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