Presidential candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), has reacted to the
victory of President Muhammadu Buhari at
the February 23 presidential election.
The aggrieved former Vice President says
the election was not free and fair.
He says there “were manifest and
premeditated†malpractices in many states
which negate the results announced.
Atiku said he will seek justice the
democratic way by heading to court.
READ ALSO: President Buhari Thanks
Nigerians For Re-Election
Below is his full statement.
“Democracy Will Not Be Emasculated in
Nigeria
I thank the Nigerian people who trooped
out in their millions to perform their civic
duty this past Saturday. The patriotism of
Nigerians is heartwarming and affirms my
oft-repeated statement that we are
brothers and sisters born from the womb of
one mother Nigeria.
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.
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.
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.
Signed:
Waziri Atiku Abubakar
27th February 2019â€
