‘Feb. 25 elections outcome a rape of democracy’, Atiku, others say at Abuja protest against INEC

By KEMI KASUMU

In what appears to be the yet to be settled dust raised by February 25, 2023 presidential and national assembly elections in Nigeria, Presidential Candidate of the main opposition party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has described the outcome of the process as a ‘rape of democracy’.

Atiku said this as he led the national leadership of the PDP, on Monday, in a ‘black uniform’ protest to the national headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, to protest the outcome of the elections.

The PDP flag bearer, National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, Vice Presidential Candidate of the party and Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, amongst other leaders of the party were at the protest.

Others at the protest included the Chairman of Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Udom Emmanuel, the Director General of PCC and Sokoto of State, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

The DEFENDER reports that candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, polled 8,794,726 and was declared President-elect at 4:10am on Wednesday February 29 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Tinubu, a former Lagos Governor of State, won in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, and secured significant numbers in several other to claim the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival — Atiku.

Atiku, 76, who has now run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who, in less than a year, galvanised young voters in a manner some have described as unprecedented finished the race with 6,101,533.

By his victory, APC’s President Muhammadu Buhari will hand over to his party man, Tinubu after the expiration of his eight-year two-term on May 29, 2023.

Criticism, calls for poll cancellation

The announcement of the results would not have happened if other candidates had their way.

Right from the election on Saturday, opposition parties had complained bitterly that INEC officials at the polling units were unable to upload election results electronically to the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV), as stipulated by Section 60 of the Electoral Act 2022.

The IReV and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) are new technologies introduced by the electoral body for the accreditation and electronic transmission of votes for this year’s polls.

The leadership of the APC, LP at several press briefings from Saturday to Tuesday had called on INEC and protested the manual transmission of results.

The parties said the results by INEC showed “monumental disparities” between what the party agents signed and what INEC officials announced in Abuja and asked Mahmood to respect the upload of results electronically as stipulated by recommended by the law.

They said the manual transmission of results compromised the integrity of the election process and demanded a cancellation of the election and asked the electoral chief to step down. They said the results announced by INEC were “irretrievably compromised”.

Opposition party agents had staged a walkout from the national collation centre in Abuja on Monday after the INEC chief insisted that the process must continue despite that all results were not electronically transmitted.

At a previous press conference on Tuesday, LP national chair said, “This election is not free and far from being fair”.

Similarly, former President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as leaders in the West African sub-region led by former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan; ex-Ghanaian President John Mahama had before the declaration of results called on INEC to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 on the collation of results for the presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25, 2023.

However, INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu declared Tinubu as Nigeria’s President-Elect and handed him his Certificate of Return.

‘A rape of democracy’

Atiku, on Thursday, slammed INEC over the conduct of the elections, saying the umpire’s inability to upload results on IReV is a “rape of democracy”.

“The weekend election was neither free nor fair. Preliminary assessments indicate that it is the worst conducted elections since the return to democratic rule. The manipulation and fraud that attended this election were unprecedented in the history of our nation,” the former vice president said.

He vowed to challenge the outcome of the election and believes the judiciary will do justice to the matter.

“Having consulted with leaders of our party and Nigerians from different walks of life, I have come to the conclusion 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. This has been attested to by both local and international observers,” he said.

“I want to believe that this was not the legacy that President Muhammadu Buhari had promised. For President Buhari, it is not too late to make amends for the good of our country and future generations and indeed to assure his legacy.”