..Says Militarization of the Electoral Process, a Disservice to Our Democracy

Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Atiku Abubakar has rejected the election results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), asserting that they were heavily manipulated, saying that he will be challenging the outcome of what he described as a “sham election” in court.

“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,” Atiku says.

Mr Abubakar who was defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari with over three million votes, according to INEC results, said the election process was manipulated.

In a statement titled “Democracy Will Not Be Emasculated in Nigeria” which he personally issued on Wednesday morning, the former Vice-President says, “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 is to help unite Nigeria by being a bridge between the North and the South.”

“Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court,” he says.

“I thank the Nigerian people who trooped out in their millions to perform their civic duty this past Saturday. The patriotism of Nigerians is heart warming and affirms my oft-repeated statement that we are brothers and sisters born from the womb of one mother Nigeria.”

“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.”

Explaining further, Atiku says, “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% less than what they were in 2015?”

“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. (See attached links to documentary evidences).”

“The militarization 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.”

“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.”

“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,” Atiku says…

Earlier, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a statement by Mr Tanimu Turaki, deputy director general, Administration, PDP Presidential Campaign Organization, says it “demands, in line with the commitment to a transparent, free and fair election, an immediate halt to the on-going collation of results by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), until data from the smart card reader accreditation at the polling units are made available to all the parties in the election.”

According to him, “the PDP predicates its demand on available evidence to the effect that data from the card readers are being reconfigured to suit the manipulations, rigging and over-voting already carried out during the election in some states by the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

“Already the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus has communicated this position of our party to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.”

“We have evidence from the smart card reader accreditation data that what is being announced by INEC has been seriously tampered with and manipulated.”

“In the meantime, we demand the immediate and outright cancellation of Presidential election results in Yobe, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Borno states as submitted by INEC presiding officers and ask for the conduct of fresh elections in these states.”

“In Yobe, the total number of votes submitted as cast was more than the number of accredited voters. Whereas the number of accredited voters was 601, 056, the total votes cast was 775, 449.”

“This is a clear case of over-voting which, by the provisions of the Electoral Act, renders the election null and void. In such instance, the law provides for another election on a day to be fixed by INEC.”

“In Zamfara state, no actual voting took place and there was no single result sheet in any polling unit in the entire state. There was an arrest in Shinkafi Local Government, where an APC member was caught thump-printing ballot papers inside his house.”

Noting that “Results from the presiding officer from Zamfara were concocted and allocated according to the wishes of the leadership of the APC and INEC,” Turaki says, “The PDP therefore demands the outright deletion of the results from Zamfara from INEC records and a conduct of free, fair and credible Presidential election in Zamfara state.”

“Also in Borno state, there was no election but a figure writing exercise and allocation of results according to the whims and caprices of the APC leaders. We also demand the outright deletion of the results from Borno from INEC records and a conduct of free, fair and credible Presidential election in Borno state.”

“In Nasarawa, the PDP demands the immediate restoration of our over 157, 000 lawful and valid votes which were unlawfully and arbitrarily cancelled by INEC and the announcement of the actual results from the field.”

“Similarly, the PDP demands an immediate restoration of our over 79, 000 valid votes which were unlawfully cancelled by INEC in Kogi state and the announcement of the authentic results inclusive of the restored 79,000 votes.”

“In the FCT, the PDP demands the restoration of 27,000 valid votes unlawfully and arbitrarily cancelled by INEC and a declaration of the authentic result, inclusive of our restored 27,000 votes.”

“In Plateau, the PDP demands the immediate restoration of our over 30,000 lawful and valid votes, which were unlawfully cancelled particularly in Jos North and the declaration of the genuine results as delivered at the polling units inclusive of our 30,000 restored votes.”

“The PDP therefore calls on Nigerians to disregard the results until INEC provides the data from the smart card reader accreditation at the polling units, conducts fresh election in Borno, Yobe and Zamfara states as well as restore our votes in Plateau, FCT, Kogi and Nasarawa states,” he says.

The PDP maintains that from the actual votes delivered at the polling units, which we all have, Nigerians clearly and unequivocally gave their mandate to Atiku Abubakar.

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has rejected the results of the Saturday’s presidential election currently being collated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a statement on Monday evening by its National Spokesperson, Mr Imo Ugochinyere, the coalition described the exercise as “pyrrhic victory and  the robbery of a nation.”

According to Ugohinyere, evidence abound nationwide and Nigerians are no longer in doubt that the 2019 general elections was “a complete departure from the electoral gains made in 2015 and that the INEC chairman is the worst chairman since 1999 for his unbridled avarice and in pursuit of petty religious, ethnic and primordial sentiments fully collaborated with the regime to rob the people of their will while looking the international community  straight in the eyes and lying to them.”

He claimed that the returns made by Prof Mahmood Yakubu were not in tandem with the wishes of Nigerians.

He said: “The country did not erupt in wild jubilations, rather citizens are seen gathering in small clusters discussing in low tunes knowing that Nigeria is now perfectly on the path to disintegration and absence of growth and development.”

“We hereby, on behalf of the people of Nigeria reject the results of the elections and the purported victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC and also declare the purported mandate which the President lays claim to as a stolen and illegitimate and which ought to be returned to the rightful owner.”

“In the glare of the whole world, the government killed its own citizens, cancelled results particularly in areas of strength of the opposition, inflated scores recorded particularly in areas of strength of the President, burnt INEC offices in areas where it was not sure of victory, raided opposition leaders homes and officers, compromised INEC and security officials, yet the INEC chairman crowned them with victory  dripping with blood of innocent citizens who were mauled down by bullets of enemies of democracy because of the desperation of a non-performing President to hold on to power.”

Also, the CUPP asked that a visa-ban be placed on the INEC Chairman and all members of his immediate family, the heads of Nigeria’s security agencies, APC leadership, compromised INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners and other top government functionaries who “actively participated in robbing the country of its legitimate choice of democratic leadership.”