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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Social Democratic Party (SDP) said it has accepted the outcome of the presidential election that produced Bola Tinubu as winner.
The party, however, said it would challenge the outcome of some of the National Assembly elections.
SDP National Chairman, Shehu Gabam, at a press briefing in Abuja, agreed that the presidential poll was fraught with irregularities such as voter suppression, violence and inability of INEC to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to transmit election results electronically.
Gabam, therefore, urged aggrieved candidates to go to court to argue their cases and not to disrupt vehicular movement in the name of protest.
He said with the party winning two senatorial and four House of Representatives seats in Nasarawa State, it was poised to be among the key decision makers in the next administration. Its presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, came sixth with 80,267 votes.
Gabam said: “The 2023 presidential election turned out with the most unique outcome, considering the national spread and the same equal number of states won by the three leading candidates. Also, it’s noteworthy that it came out as having the lowest voter turn-out in the recent history of presidential elections in Nigeria, with less than a total of 25 million votes out of over 90 million registered voters nationwide.
“Notwithstanding the obvious challenges that were associated with the election and the concerns expressed by aggrieved stakeholders, the SDP hereby aligns with the final choice that has been made, and as freely expressed by the Nigerian people across the divides, and we stand by the outcome of the electoral process.”
Gabam commended INEC under the leadership of Prof. Yakubu Mahmud for pulling through in the face of all of odds.
“The election has been won and lost. Going forward, therefore, and what is right in the true interest of our country, is for all grievances to be expressed through the appropriate channels and very responsibly. Our party believes strongly in the nation’s justice system as capable of addressing the various concerns expressed, and for it to always do justice. We also note that democratic consolidation for national unity and sustainable growth and development is the imperative of the times.
“As such, the SDP calls on the political class and the general public to eschew violence in their actions and pronouncements, and to in practical terms and manifestly, work for peace and social order in the larger interest of our country.”
