APC, PDP clash over presidential poll results
• Atiku leads protest
• APC PCC: it’s theatre of the absurd
• Wike dismisses action
• INEC: our allegiance is to Nigerians
The post-presidential election storm took a dramatic turn yesterday.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) marched on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja to protest the alleged manipulation of the February 25 election.
But the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC) described those at the protest as “jesters”.
It noted that the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who led the protest, had told the world last week that he would seek redress in court.
But Atiku said they had the right to protest even if the case was in court.
APC National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, said there was bound to be a winner and loser in an election.
To him, the protesters were sore losers.
INEC has promised to address any issues within its purview.
“If there are remedial issues to be dealt with. We are going to deal with those remedial issues,” the commission said.
Atiku and the PDP leadership are not getting any sympathy from River State Governor Nyesom Wike.
The governor said the opposition party was crying over spilled milk after it jettisoned its constitutional provision for a North-South power shift.
APC support groups will today stage a counter-solidarity walk in support of the presidential election outcome.
Secretary of Support Group Coordination, Tosin Adeyanju, stated in a notice: “All support groups and party members are to converge Tuesday 7th March 2023 by 8 am at Tinubu Campaign Office on No 6 Atabara off Cario Wuse II for the onward procession to INEC in defence of our democracy and declared result of the last presidential and National Assembly elections.”
How the protest unfolded
Atiku arrived at the Legacy House, the presidential campaign headquarters of the PDP at 11 am, where he joined other PDP leaders.
They include PDP National Chairman Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and National Working Committee (NWC) members, who had gathered at the premises awaiting Atiku’s arrival.
Others were the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) Senator Adolphus Wabara; Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal; former National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus; former Senate President Bukola Saraki; former Adamawa State Governor Boni Haruna; PDP chieftain Chief Raymond Dokpesi; former PDP National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan; Atiku’s campaign spokesman Senator Dino Melaye, among others.
The protesters, who were dressed in black, took off at about 11.10 am, causing heavy traffic congestion around the Maitama axis.
They were received at the INEC headquarters by a team, led by the National Commissioner and Chairman of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Festus Okoye.
Okoye received a protest letter from Dr Ayu for onward transmission to the INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.
The letter conveyed the party’s rejection of the February 25 presidential election won by the APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The PDP called for the cancellation of the presidential election and the conduct of a fresh one that it said will be acceptable to Nigerians and the international community.
Purporting to be acting on the mandate of “the Nigerian electorate”, the PDP said the outcome of the poll was unacceptable.
Other demands include the suspension of the ongoing transmission of the polling unit results to the servers.
It claimed the exercise was in complete breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
The party also urged the electoral umpire to avoid a repeat of the experiences of the February 25 election in Saturday’s governorship and State Assembly elections.
It added that any attempt to manipulate the electoral process would be vehemently resisted.
The party called on 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”.
It demanded an explanation as to why INEC proceeded with the declaration of the election results “marred with irregularities against all calls to address the complaints brought to your attention before and during the collation process”.
The party added: “The PDP, together with the ordinary and aggrieved masses of our dear country, will no longer tolerate any act in defiance of our electoral processes and laws.
“We feel pained at the outcome of the February 25, 2023 election and the provocative declaration your commission made against the will of the people.
“Sadly, this is coming at the time Nigerians were in high hopes of embracing a reformed electoral process. Please take caution in your acts to avoid destabilising our fledgling democracy.”
Addressing reporters, Atiku said: “We are protesting and we have every right to protest.
“The fact that we are protesting doesn’t stop us from going to court. We will protest for a very long time, either every day or every other day.”
Okoye said INEC would address any of the issues raised that are within its purview.
“If there are remedial issues to be dealt with, we are going to 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 have any allegiance to any political party. We don’t have 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.
“The commission belongs to the Nigerian people and whatever grievances there are, we will look into all those grievances.
“If there are grievances that can be redressed, we will redress those grievances. 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 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.”
APC PCC slams PDP’s ‘theatrical display’
The APC PCC said the demonstration was a new low for the PDP leadership.
In a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, the council said the opposition took its case to the wrong place.
It said: “INEC Headquarters is not a court where the prayers of Alhaji Atiku can be answered.
“With Atiku staging a theatre of the absurd, we fail to see how a march to INEC by a scanty crowd will provide any victory window for him and his fragmented PDP.
“The only recourse open to Atiku after the electoral umpire declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the President-elect, is the Election Petition Tribunal.
“We don’t expect a former Vice President of Nigeria, a statesman and a Presidential candidate to be so jobless as to have time to disturb public peace over an electoral outcome he had already said he would challenge in court.
“We want to admonish Alhaji Atiku to respect his age and the high office of the Vice Presidency of Nigeria he once occupied.
“He should stop being teleguided by Dino Melaye, who disclosed scandalously that N400 billion was wasted on the election, which was clear at the outset that Atiku was bound to lose.
“Atiku should avoid being misdirected by other court jesters in his party, who continued to campaign after the election, still spewing their inanities against the President-elect. They are mere comic characters in a travelling theatre group.
“No amount of theatrical display will give him succour. The honourable and lawful path to take is for Atiku to get his lawyers to plead his case in court.
“He should stop throwing tantrums like a baby whose candy was taken away over an election he lost due to his poor judgment; mismanagement of his party and violation of the power rotational arrangement between the North and the South.
“The PDP presidential candidate dug his own grave, in his last election and, absurdly, he is trying to rewrite the script of his utter failure.
“We wonder how Atiku and his party hoped to win when he admitted that Peter Obi, his running mate in 2019, ran away with traditional PDP votes from the Southeast and Southsouth.
“It is preposterous that while Atiku is disturbing public peace, chanting phantom electoral victory, Peter Obi is making the same claim.
“We think both men have embarrassed themselves enough and it is time they both resolved who between them is the supposed winner that will challenge our party’s victory in court.”
The Campaign Council advised the PDP presidential candidate “to retire honourably from politics and move to his abode in Dubai”.
“At 77 in November, Atiku does not have age on his side again.
“He has participated in his last election and hopefully, he has learnt worthy lessons, never to place his selfish interest above party and established principles in his party and the polity,” the statement added.
Omisore described the protest as an act of desperation.
Speaking at the APC national secretariat when he received a congratulatory letter to the President-elect from President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, Omisore said: “In any contest, there must be a winner and there must be losers. So, must they win? No!
“They are just bad losers simple. Very undemocratic and they are desperate people, desperados simple.”
He thanked the Chinese government for believing in Nigeria and INEC.
“The welcome development is a signpost that the world has accepted this election and equally from the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“This is the testimony of the fairness, the freeness and acceptability of the election across the world,” Omisoere said.
The letter dated March 3, 2023, and personally signed by the Chinese President to Tinubu, reads: “I learned with great joy of your election as President of Nigeria, and on behalf of the Chinese Government and the Chinese people, I would like to extend to you my sincere congratulations and best wishes.
“I am confident that, under your leadership, Nigeria will continue to make new achievements in the cause of national building and development.”
Jinping noted that Nigeria is an important strategic partner of China in Africa.
“I attach great importance to the development of China-Nigeria relations, and stand ready to work with you to take the China-Nigeria Strategic Partnership to new heights,” he writes.
The letter was presented by the Directing Officer of the Chinese Embassy, Mr Wu Baocai, assisted by the Embassy’s Second Secretary, Mr H.E. Shurong.
Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja, Jide Orintunsin, Abuja and Tony Akowe, Abuja
The Nation Newspaper