From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described the February 25 poll as the worst in the country’s history since 1999 and has vowed to challenge the outcome up to the Supreme Court.
The former vice president, who said the election was fraught with manipulations and non-compliance to the electoral act, however, said if he loses at the apex court, he would take his case to God.
He spoke at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, where he lamented that the polls presented Nigerians with an opportunity to reset the country, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shattered the hopes and aspiration of the people.
The PDP candidate who said as vice president, he had cause to drag his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, to court on 11 cases and won, expressed doubt on the impartiality of the current judiciary.
Asked what he would do if he loses at the Supreme Court given his cynicism of the country’s judiciary, Atiku said: “If I lose at the apex court, then I will appeal to God.”
He said preliminary assessments indicated that the February 25 poll was the worst conducted elections since the return to democratic rule.
“The manipulation and fraud that attended this election was unprecedented in the history of our nation. 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.
“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 was grossly flawed in every material particular, and as such must be challenged. This has been attested to by both local and international observers.”
Atiku expressed hopes that the judiciary would redeem itself this time around and rise to the society’s expectation as the last hope
“In the end, who wins is not as important as the credibility of our elections and electoral processes.”
He said what happened last Saturday was a negation of the legacy that President Muhammadu Buhari had promised Nigerians.
“For President Buhari, it is not too late to make amends for the good of our country and the future generations and indeed to assure his legacy. This battle to right the wrongs of Saturday is not about me. It is a continuation of my battles to deepen democracy and for a better life for our people. It is about the future of Nigerian youths.
“I know that Nigerians, especially the youth, are traumatised by the developments, but I want to urge them to conduct themselves peacefully. Like I have done over the years, I assure you that I will commit the rest of my life in ensuring that true democracy, which affirms the supremacy of your votes and your will, will take firm footing and guarantee a stable, prosperous and peaceful Nigeria.”
While responding to question on whether he regretted not working with the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, especially against the performance of the party in the presidential election, he admitted that LP “wounded” the PDP in the contest.
Nevertheless, he maintained that the vote garned by Obi was not enough to make him president. Atiku noted that if Obi had not left the PDP, he could have made him his running mate.
“Yes, it is a fact, he took our votes from the South East and South South. That, of course, will not make him president. We all know that to be president in this country, you need to get votes from everywhere.
“ So, as far as i am concerned, Peter is welcomed to dialogue with PDP. We are ready to dialogue with him, so I don’t think we will have any problem with him, if he wants to dialogue with PDP, form alliance ….
“I think Peter was in a rush. When campaign started, our PDP governors sat down and said they must produce the president amongst them, they must produce the vice president amongst them, they must produce the Chief of Staff among them. Peter got scared and he left. I’ did not get scared. I stood up against the governors.
“When we formed this PDP some of them perhaps were in the secondary school or university, so why should I be afraid. So I stood up and fought them. So if he was there, nothing could have stopped him from becoming a running mate.
“Because I have a right of choosing whosoever I wanted as my running mate. The question if whether I will work with Peter or not or whether Peter wounded the PDP, yes, because all the votes he carried were PDP votes in the South East. That is politics anyway.”