‘Presidential Poll Marred By Unprecedented Fraud’ — Atiku To Challenge Tinubu’s Victory

• Tinubu was declared winner of the presidential election on Wednesday.

• Opposition parties have alleged that the election was marred by voter fraud.

• Atiku has come out to criticise the electoral process.

Eko Hot Blog reports that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has rejected the election that produced Bola Tinubu as the president-elect.

He announced his stance at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

Recall that Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared winner of the presidential election on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters, Atiku alleged that the election was marred by “unprecedented fraud.”

He stated that his “heart is full of sadness,” adding that the fraud that characterised the election must be challenged.

PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, addressing reporters

The PDP candidate said the “dreams and aspirations of Nigerians who braced all the challenges to go and cast their votes were shattered by the conduct INEC which failed to live up to expectations.”

“The weekend election was neither free nor fair. Preliminary assessments indicate that it is the worst conducted elections since the return to democratic rule,” Atiku said.

“The manipulation and fraud that attended this election were unprecedented in the history of our nation. I can still not understand why the electoral umpire was in such a hurry to conclude the 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 were grossly flawed in every material particular, and as such must be challenged.

“This has been attested to by both local and international observers. I want to believe that this was not the legacy that President Muhammadu Buhari had promised.”

He asked Nigerians who are “traumatised” by the election results to conduct themselves peacefully.

“It is my hope that the judiciary will redeem itself this time around and rise to 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,” Atiku said.

The former president asked President Muhammadu Bubari to “make amends for the good of our country and the future generations and indeed to assure his legacy.”

He also said he is ready to form an alliance with Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who finished third in the presidential election.

Obi was Atiku’s running mate in the 2019 presidential election but he defected to the LP in 2022 after deciding he had no clear path to the PDP presidential nomination.

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