Atiku Abubakar, flag bearer of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), said the rally was launched by the Party together with its leaders, members, and supporters at the Independent National Election Commission (PDP). INEC) to cancel the presidential election on February 25 will not stop. until Party tension.
The PDP candidate led disgruntled Party supporters to INEC headquarters in Abuja on Monday to protest the results of the February 25 presidential election, which the Party’s flag bearer claimed to have won.
The Electoral Commission declared Progressives Congress candidate Bola Tinubu the winner of the election after winning a total of 8,794,726 votes, but the PDP and LP rejected the results and declared will challenge it in court.
At the rally was the President of the National Party, Iyorchia Ayu; Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal; his counterpart from the State of Taraba, Darius Ishaku, and other chiefs.
The march also featured the former national president of the PDP, Uche Secondus; former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye; former Imo State Governor Emeka Ihediaha and former State Governor Adamawa Boni Haruna among the party leaders.
Atiku said,
“All the provisions of the current electoral law have been completely contravened. We were protesting and then INEC was not listening and went on to announce the result. That is why we are protesting. We have the right to protest and it will continue for a very long time, either every day or any other day. We have the right to protest under the constitution, and it doesn’t stop us from going to the court.’’
Via a protest letter, the Party warned INEC against messing up the coming governorship and state houses of assembly elections.
The letter was received on behalf of the INEC National Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, by the National Commissioner and Chairman of Voter Education and Publicity, Festus Okoye.
The PDP national chairman, Ayu, stated
“We call on your commission to suspend the ongoing transmission of the polling units results to your servers which is in complete breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
“We reject and declare as unacceptable the outcome, announcement and declaration of the presidential election results.
“We want to warn your commission against a repeat of the experiences of the February 25 election in the coming governorship and state assembly elections of March 11, 2023. Any attempt to manipulate the electoral process will be vehemently resisted.
“We demand an explanation why you proceeded with the declaration of the election results marred by irregularities against all calls to address the complaints brought to your attention before and during the collation process.’’
Condemning the alleged absurdity that ravaged the presidential election, Ayu said Nigeria should be seen as a country governed by the rule of law, pointing out that it was a responsibility that the party owed the citizens.
He called on all Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora to stand firmly in defense of their rights, votes, and “stolen mandate.’’
“We call on all Nigerians to be co-partners in defence of our democracy, votes, the rule of law and their rights to freely choose the candidates of their choice,” the letter read
Ayu also insisted while presenting the protest letter, that INEC must cancel the election and conduct a fresh one “that will be respected not only by Nigerians but by the whole international community.”
Upon receipt of the letter, Okoye stated,
“So I have received this protest letter on behalf of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission and I promise you this letter will be transmitted to him.
“If there are remedial issues we will deal with those remedial issues. But I want to assure you that this commission is a listening commission. This commission is a public trust and this commission belongs to the Nigerian people. This commission does not owe allegiance to any political party.
‘’We don’t have any allegiance to any candidate. Our allegiance is to the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I want to thank all of you for the peaceful way this protest has been conducted but I want to plead that all of us should continue to be peaceful and all of us should continue to respect the integrity of the commission and also the integrity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I am going to go and hand over the protest letter to the chairman of the commission and I want to assure you that the commission will meet over this letter, look into it and address some of the issues.”
