The controversy over the credibility or otherwise of last Saturday’s presidential polls may soon take a legal dimension as the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, promised to trade tackles with Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP)’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, both of whom are threatening to challenge Tinubu’s victory in court.
At the end of the contest, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer, winner of the election.
He polled 8,794,726 votes having come tops in 12 states, and secured significant numbers in several other states.
And the PDP candidate and former Vice President Atiku, had 6,984,520 votes and also coming tops in 12 states, while Obi with the youth as the core of his supporters, ended with 6,101,533 and leading in 11 states, including the FCT.
But the duo of Obi and Atiku individually laid claim to victory, insisting their mandate was stolen.
I won – Obi
Specifically, the LP standard bearer claimed he won the presidential election and that he had his evidence to that effect.
Obi said he was ready to explore all legal and peaceful means to reclaim his stolen mandate.
In his first public appearance since losing the contest, Obi told journalists Thursday in Abuja he was sure of reclaiming his mandate.
He said: “Nigerians, especially the youths, believed in and worked tirelessly for a new Nigeria. Gratitude to the Obidients, those who believed a new Nigeria is possible and I say to them a new Nigeria is possible and we will work for that new Nigeria that is possible.
“The commitment and silence of Nigerians, even in the face of unwarranted panic attacks, is a testimony that a new Nigeria is indeed possible.
“Look at people like Lady Jennifer, who was stabbed and still went on to vote, then that gives me the courage to believe that a new Nigeria is indeed possible.
“They asked us to go the court. Remember, I’m an ‘Obedient’. So I will go to where they ask us to go.”
The LP leader also claimed the number of voters in the 2023 election reduced sharply by 20% despite the increase in the number of registered voters and persons who collected their PVCs in 2023.
“The reason for the reduction is due to manipulation and removal of votes here and there. We have chosen that we will challenge this rascality for the future of this country.
“Nigeria can’t conduct credible elections after 63 years of independence. It’s something we should all reflect on.
“We are not in an alliance. We’re discussing and in partnership with other people and any other Nigerian who feels hurt as we do,” he said.
… Election flawed – Atiku
In a related development, the PDP candidate said the exercise was grossly flawed.
Addressing a world press conference in Abuja, Thursday, the former Vice President described the February 25th Presidential election as the worst in the history of Nigeria.
Narrating how he and others fought to enthrone democracy, Atiku said following the exit of the military and the advent of democratic rule in 1999, he did not rest on his oars.
“I deployed the same level of commitment to advance and deepen our democracy. I did this because our democracy was bought at a huge price for human lives.”
He said the recent poll presented the nation and its people the greatest opportunity for a reset.
“However, the dreams and aspirations of Nigerians who braced all the challenges to go and cast their votes on Saturday, 25th of February, 2023, were shattered by the conduct of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which failed to live up to expectations,” Atiku added.
While saying the election was neither free nor fair, the ex-VP said: “Preliminary assessments indicate that it is the worst conducted elections since the return to democratic rule.
“The manipulation and fraud that attended this election was 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 guidelines. It was indeed a rape of democracy.
“Having consulted with leaders of our party and Nigerians from different walks of life, I have concluded 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.
“I know that Nigerians, especially the youth, are traumatized by the developments, but I want to urge them to conduct themselves peacefully. As I have done over the years, I assure you that I will commit the rest of my life to ensure that true democracy, which affirms the supremacy of your votes and your will, will take firm footing and guarantee a stable, prosperous, and peaceful Nigeria.”
On his next line of action, Atiku said he’s waiting for his legal team still studying the results to suggest the next line of action.
“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, w* wins is not as important as the credibility of our elections and electoral processes,” Atiku added.
Asked whether the LP in a way, affected its chances, Atiku admitted that it largely affected PDP’s chances in the South-South and South-East.
He said: “By the time Peter decided to leave PDP, and join Labour Party, we have not begun our primary process. So, the question of whether he was going to get a ticket or not does not arise. Yes, it is a fact, he took our votes from the South East and South-South. But that of course will not make him president.”
“We all know that to be president in this country, you need to get votes from everywhere. So, as far as I am concerned, Peter is welcome to dialogue with PDP. We are ready to dialogue with him, so I don’t think we will have any problem with him if he wants to dialogue with PDP or form an alliance,” Atiku further said.
On his optimism in the judiciary, he said the Judiciary was supposed to be the last hope of the common man, “but that is not the situation in Nigeria today.”
He said: “But for whatever it will be, I will test the Nigeria’s judiciary again. But if I fail to get the justice, I will appeal to God.”
Tinubu
Welcoming the candidates’ decision to go to court, Tinubu said he would join them there to defend his victory.
“Going to court is part of the electoral process and it is the most decent, statesmanlike and civilised course of action to take. We salute the decision. It is surely better than calling supporters to the streets and instigating social unrest,” he said in a statement by the Director, Media & Publicity APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga,
Clarifications
However, he said before the legal battle, it was necessary for him to set the record straight on the conduct of the election.
He said: “Before Mr. Obi goes to court, we consider it necessary to challenge some specific claims in his press address. Contrary to his statement, it is not true that the election held 25 February was not free and fair.
“The 2023 election is one of the most transparent and peaceful elections in the history of Nigeria. It is because the process was credible that made it possible for Mr. Obi’s Labour Party to record the over six million votes it got contrary to pre-election forecast.
“That Labour Party and Mr. Obi surprised bookmakers by winning in Lagos State, Nasarawa, Plateau, Delta and Edo where there are sitting governors of either the All Progressives Congress or the Peoples Democratic Party validates the credibility of the election.
“Those governors have entrenched political machinery. That Obi won attests to the credibility of the election process. In those states, especially in the South East, most of the sitting governors contested election to go to the Senate and lost to little known candidates of Labour Party.
“The Labour Party also swept the entire five South East states under the control of APGA, PDP or APC. We believe that the Labour Party Presidential Candidate contradicted himself and exposed himself to public ridicule by suggesting that the election was only credible in states and places his party won.
“We need us to forewarn Mr. Obi, that when he gets to court he should be prepared to tell the world how his party won over 90% of votes in his region of South East while other parties got almost nothing. We have evidence of voters’ suppression, intimidation and harassment in South East especially of those who came out to vote for our party.
“Also, when Mr. Obi gets to court, he will have to convince the court with his allegation of rigging in over 40,000 polling units across the country, mostly, in North West and North East where his party had no party agents and did not sign result sheets as required by law. It is our assumption that Labour Party will enlist PDP agents to prove its fraud claims since it is an affiliate of PDP.
“We want to state again for the umpteenth time that Mr. Obi didn’t win the presidential election and could not have won under any circumstances. This is because he had no path to winning a national election in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like Nigeria where a candidate running in a national election must appeal to the cross-section of our pluralistic society.”
According to the statement, “Obi anchored his presidential campaign on the failed strategy of ethnicity and religion, the divisive and dangerous politics that has hobbled the progress of our country for decades. Nigerians simply rejected an ethnic and religious bigot through their ballots.
“Mr. Obi all through his campaign presented himself as the candidate of the Christians and the Church, who wanted to help ‘take back their country” from the Nigerian Muslims.
“His campaign also ran on the engine of ethnicity, inflaming strong Igbo sentiments. He also sought to cash in on the supposed youth discontent in Nigeria, as fuelled by the ENDSARS protest in 2020.
“While Labour Party positioned its candidate as the harvester of the youth votes, its planners forgot that Nigeria does not have a homogeneous and monolithic youth population that can deliver bloc vote to any candidate.
“All the major parties that contested the election also have strong youth appeal and supporters.
“The lesson in Mr. Obi’s defeat in the election is that no politician in Nigeria can win a presidential race by being a sectional and an anointed candidate of any religion.”
