Following the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, as the winner of the February 23 presidential elections in Nigeria, the country’s main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed its displeasure with the election, citing major irregularities.
Earlier, the party refused to sign the result sheet presented by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after it announced the results, vowing to contest the result.
Speaking on behalf of the opposition at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, PDP agent and former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr Osita Chidoka, claimed that the announced result was not a true reflection of the Nigerian electorate.
Chidoka referenced three major issues the party had with the election process, starting with INEC’s inability to project the results of the Smart Card Reader used for accreditation. He also noted the disparity between the accredited voters and total votes cast, asking that it be examined as well as the need to address the cancelled elections which led to the loss of over 2.7 million votes.
“So, in our view, this election needs to looked at again and possibly we would have had a re-run, more importantly.”
Atiku Refers to Election as a “Sham”
Responding to INEC’s announcement in a statement released on Wednesday morning, Atiku stated that the malpractices and tampering that occurred during the election and collation process, debased the exercise.
Atiku went on to reject the result and expressly declare his intention to contest the result in court, as it wasn’t “free and fair.”
“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. 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.
Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court.”
Vice Presidential Candidate Claims Disenfranchisement of South-East Voters
In an early statement released before the announcement by the country’s electoral commission, former Anambra state governor and vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, accused the commission of deliberately ensuring that voters in certain zones were hindered from casting their votes.
According to Obi, only 20 percent of the registered 10 million voters in the region were able to exercise their rights to vote, disenfranchising eight million eligible voters.
“When over 4,000 card readers got burnt, it became clear that something was wrong somewhere and the Independent National Electoral Commission could neither save the situation nor allow people to vote manually.”
Obi also emphasized that INEC’s decision to not accept manual voting and accreditation in the South-East like they did in the North, resulted in some questionable numbers, saying, “How can you tell me that states like Yobe and Borno produced more voters than Anambra and Ebonyi states put together.”
Questioning the numbers further, Obi referenced the recent insecurity challenges people in the north face, and how preposterous it is that they were still able to record such large numbers regardless.
“The two states have been at war. I wonder how they got card readers that were working so well, despite the war situation in which they found themselves,” he said.
In his final notes, Obi stated that Nigeria had failed to build up on the foundations set by former President Goodluck.
