The All Progressives Congress presidential campaign council has raised the alarm that two major opposition parties, Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party, are desperately shopping for legal options to stop the announcement of the presidential election results and throw Nigeria into constitutional crises.
This was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday evening by the APC PCC Chief Spokesman, Festus Keyamo.
A worried Keyamo stated that the drama playing out at the height of election collation was reminiscent of the historic June 12, 1993 election which robbed the country of having a leader produced through the most credible and fair election ever conducted in the country.
According to him, the allegation of bias levelled against the Independent National Electoral Commission and the manner the spokesman of the PDP and others stormed out of the collation centre confirmed the intelligence they earlier received in the opposition game plan.
His accusation is coming barely an hour after former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote to the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) calling for results that were brought outside BVAS and Server to be cancelled, stating that they were not a true reflection of the will of Nigerian voters.
The statement read, “We have it on good authority that the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party have perfected plans to finally scuttle our democracy and throw the country into constitutional crises by surreptitiously obtaining exparte court orders stopping the announcement of the Presidential Election results which they fear have gone against them.
“The walk-out they staged today at the National Collation Center is just a precursor to executing the plan. Nigerians would recall that the June 12, 1993 debacle that brought Nigeria to its knees and caused our country international isolation was precipitated by a court injunction stopping the announcement of Presidential Election results. The court order was obtained by a certain Association for Better Nigeria headed then by one Chief Authur Nzeribe.
“This is exactly what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi want to foist on this nation again because of their inordinate ambitions. This is not surprising because both candidates were nowhere to be seen when Asiwaju was fighting for the democracy we all enjoy today.”
Continuing, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria called attention to the provisions of section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act which prohibits the grant of injunctions to stop the holding of elections (which includes the declaration of results).
According to him, nothing in the section empowers the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general elections under this Act pending the determination of a suit.
The APC PCC spokesman noted that the opposition’s action has prompted their instructions to their campaign organizations, especially their spokespersons to continue to issue statements, making false claims of ‘victory’ when there is no single scientific basis for such claims.
He said, “For instance, as outlandish as some of their claims of manipulation are, they have not pointed at one single presidential election result in any single unit in the whole country where they scored a particular figure with a result sheet duly signed by their agent that was subsequently changed at a Collation Centre. All we hear are sound bites of their spokespersons, huffing and puffing about winning the election just to whip up public sentiments to prepare the ground to reject the results when they are eventually released by INEC.
“For us, our position is very simple and straightforward: we wish to allow the legal process of declaring presidential election results to take place peacefully and in an orderly fashion. Asiwaju is not desperate, but is very confident of victory.
“We, therefore, wish to advice anyone who wishes to aid and encourage these candidates along this infamous part to remember the June 12 debacle.
They may also wish to learn a lesson or two from President Muhammadu Buhari who resorted to the court of law in 2003, 2007 and 2011 when same PDP ‘defeated’ him in those presidential elections in controversial circumstances. President Buhari, as a true statesman and democrat, never resorted to underhand tactics to declare himself President.”
Reacting to the claim, the Chief Spokesman for Obi-Datti presidential campaign council, Yunusa Tanko, scolded Keyamo, saying he has failed to understand the position of the Nigerian voters.
This is even as he reiterated that LP and the Nigerian people have lost faith in the electoral body.
“We are seeking to fight for the soul of Nigeria. This country is being midwife and sold and the Nigerian people will never accept this. We are ready to challenge it with all the instrumentality that it requires.
Nigerians have spoken and their will cannot be subverted by the decision of few people who have put the country in a mess. We reject it.
“How can we continue to trust INEC when it cannot simply allow its staff to post results into the server accurately and as when due? The trust has been broken. The hope of the Nigerian people has been dashed by cronies and those who have been subverting the will of the people. That cannot stand, he said.
Efforts to reach the spokesman for the Atiku-Okowa campaign council, Dele Momodu and the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, proved abortive.
As of the time of filing this story, they have not responded to calls put across to them.
