The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has rejected the result of Saturday’s presidential election that gave victory to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
Atiku, in a statement he personally signed and released on Wednesday, vowed to challenge his loss in court.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who is the Chief Returning Officer for the Presidential Election, announced early Wednesday that Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 15,191,847 votes to beat his closest challenger, Atiku, who got 11,262,978 votes.
However, Atiku said he would seek redress in court, noting that the electoral process that produced Buhari was neither free nor fair.
The statement read in part, “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.”
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