#NigeriaDecides: 24 hours after its plot to release parallel polls results exposed, PDP asks INEC to declare Atiku President-elect

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Atiku on phone with US Secretary of State: His ambition is central to why Nigeria's 2019 elections suffered setback leading to shift from 16 February 2019, it was gathered.

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Barely 24 hours after it was exposed to be plotting to deploy the Donald Trump’s tactics of churning out fake news of election results to weaken the supporting spirit of Nigerians who stand to protect their votes for All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Sunday finally made true what hitherto was a suspicion as it asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the winner of Saturday presidential election in the country and by implication, president-elect.

What PDP has just done is not new as it did same during the Ekiti State governorship election where then outgoing Governor Ayodele Fayose broadcast what he considered to be results he collated from various polling units across the state on the state’s radio and television thereby declaring his deputy and candidate in the contest, Olusola Eleka, as winner, leading to the shutdown of the state broadcasting services at the time.

The PDP’s candidate eventually lost out at the governorship election tribunal where the loser contested his defeat.

Similarly at the national level, the PDP repeated same electoral law breach as it was said to have eventually proved its accusers right with by its call on the INEC to immediately announce results as delivered to it from the polling units and declare Atiku winner of the February 23 Presidential election.

The party said its position is predicated on what it perceived to be the clear and verifiable results across the nation.

In a statement signed by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP noted that Intelligence available to it “is that INEC is delaying the announcement of results following directives by the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress, APC, which are bent on altering the figures from the polling centres and allocate fictitious figures to President Muhammadu Buhari, particularly in northern states.”

The statement continued, “In delaying the announcement of the results, Professor Mahmood Yakubu is allowing the APC to turn him into a villain and directly pitching him against the people. He should therefore extricate himself from the APC and be on the side of the people, by immediately announcing the results as already delivered at the polling units and declare, the people’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the winner.

“INEC server is now shut down, results are no more being transmitted and the reason is to enable the APC to inflate figures from six designated states.

“We call on international observers and election monitors to insist on a transparent process of transmission of results and the monitoring thereof.

“We already have reports of how APC governors in the northern states have been making desperate effort to tamper with the results of the elections in their respective states with the view to award conjured votes to President Buhari.”

Specifically, the party claimed that “In Kogi State, Governor Yahaya Bello has been making frantic moves to change results to suit APC’s intent and purposes as against the wishes of the people, expressly delivered at the polls.

“Nigerians already know how the Minister of Transport and the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign, Rotimi Amaechi, used the military to hold an INEC official in River State, Mrs. Mary Efeturi, hostage and insisted that she will not be released until she alters the results in favour of President Buhari”.

Although all the allegations by PDP not substantiated, it urged the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu to note that in this age of Information Communication Technology, “Nigerians already have the results as delivered at the polling centres and any attempt to alter any figure will be faced with vehement resistance,” adding that “anything short of this is not acceptable to Nigerians, who had already expressed their wishes and aspiration at the polls.”

A major aspect of the peace accord signed by both PDP, its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and APC and its presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, administered by the National Peace Committee ahead of the presidential election is for both major parties to agree that they would accept the outcome of the election without resulting to issues and violence.

Atiku refused to attend the peace accord signing ceremony on the scheduled date until after widespread criticisms he succumbed and signed alone with his party chairman, Mr. Uche Secondus.

The peace accord was also signed for the second time in few days to the final date of the polls, yet, PDP has continued to be fingered in the report of violence so far including the uncovered money laundering for vote-buying as a result of which Atiku’s lawyer was arrested, $4 million recovered by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and several other issues.


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