Atiku Abubakar has slammed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections, saying the umpire’s inability to upload results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) is a “rape of democracy”.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) made the claim in Abuja on Thursday, two days after INEC declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of Saturday’s election.
“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.
“I can still not understand why the electoral umpire was in such a hurry to conclude collation and announcement of the result, given the number of complaints of irregularities of bypassing of the BVAS, failure of uploading to the IREV, and unprecedented cancellations and disenfranchisement of millions of voters in breach of the Electoral Act and the commission’s own guidelines. It was indeed a rape of democracy.”
‘Grossly Flawed’
PDP chieftains during the press conference in Abuja on Thursday, March 2, 2023. Channels TV/Sodiq Adelakun
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.”
