The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) have demanded a fresh election, saying the February 25 presidential election has been “irretrievably compromised”.
LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu as well as their ADC counterpart, Ralph Nwosu, made this known at a joint press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.
They alleged that Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections were manipulated by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at polling units by their failure to upload results electronically on the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV).
Abure, who spoke on behalf of the LP, PDP and the ADC, said, “This election is not free and far from being fair”, adding that there are “ongoing cancellation of results from areas of strength of the opposition parties”.
“I demand that this sham of an election be cancelled and we call on INEC to conduct fresh elections within the window period provided by the electoral act.”
Julius Abure, Chairman of the Labour Party
They also declared a vote of no confidence on the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu and asked him to immediately step aside for an unbiased person to take over and conduct a fresh election.
The LP, PDP and ADC said the deliberate refusal of the INEC Chairman to respect the upload of results electronically as stipulated by Section 60 of the Electoral Act 2022 is unacceptable.
The three parties said the result so far by INEC showed “monumental disparities” between what the party agents signed and what INEC officials announced in Abuja.
They said the manual transmission of results compromised the integrity of the election process.
A Rape On Democracy
Reading from a prepared text on behalf of the parties, Julius Abure said, “We monitored with dismay the travesty to democracy that was exhibited at the National Collation Centre of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It is, to say the least, a rape on democracy.”
The Labour Party Chairman went on to read that “We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to stand by his promise to Nigerians to bequeath a legacy of free, fair, and transparent elections to the country.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari, this is a time of great test of your integrity to use your office to save Nigeria from this electoral heist and save your legacy from the forces that seek to mar your democratic credentials. We are calling on Nigerians to continue to believe in the promise of Nigeria. To join us in defending the integrity of our country and defend our democracy.”
Julius Abure
Also, Iyorchia Ayu, Chairman for PDP stated that the INEC boss cannot turn himself to a “dictator” and demanded that he step aside for another person to take over.
Additionally, Ayu accused the electoral body of allocating votes, pointing out that identical results were given to the PDP, LP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in both Bauchi and Gombe states.
“The votes from Bauchi and Gombe states are exactly the same. In Bauchi, APC has 146,977. Gombe, two different states, APC has also 146,977. PDP in Bauchi has 319,123. PDP in Gombe has 319,123.
“Labour Party has 26,160. In Gombe, they also have 26,160. It is very clear that these results were deliberately allocated, and funny enough, this type of mischief, they didn’t do it good enough.”
Iyorchia Ayu
APC Slams Opposition Over Election Cancellation Calls
A Media Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake has criticized the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for calling for the cancellation of the election, saying it will be tantamount to an “abortion of democracy”.
Alake advised the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his LP counterpart, Peter Obi to “accept defeat honourably”.
“This election has already been won by our candidate, according to the result declared by the collation centres in the states,” he said.
“In 2015, President Jonathan did not wait for INEC to finish collation before he called President Buhari in the true spirit of democracy and sportsmanship.
“We urge Abubakar and Obi to follow the same path of honour instead of heating the polity with reckless statements by surrogates. Let Atiku and Obi do the needful, the necessary thing and save Nigeria by calling Tinubu now and conceding defeat.”
Dele Alake
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