Atiku’s loss: Ayu, Okowa, Tambuwal, PDP leaders to stage protest in Abuja
…PDP summons Govs, excludes G5
…To storm INEC headquarters
…Resistance against outcome, an attempt to draw us back, create chaos — Osoba
…Presidential poll failed Nigerians’ expectation, INEC should fix challenges before March 11 — U.S.
By Moses Adeniyi
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu and the PDP vice presidential candidate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa have resolved to lead other stalwarts and members of the party in a protest at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on Monday (today) against the outcome of the presidential election.
State Governors of the PDP invited for the protest include Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom, Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto, Godwin Obaseki of Edo, Ademola Adeleke of Osun, Douye Diri of Bayelsa, Bala Muhammad of Bauchi, and Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa.
Meanwhile, it was gathered according to a copy of the invitation sighted by Nigerian NewsDirect that the invitation was not extended to the G-5 governors of Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and his counterparts; Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia State) who fell out with Atiku and Ayu on the presidential race, particularly on the demand for the resignation of Ayu as the national party chariman and the call for his replacement by a southerner.
Also invited for the protest are former Senate Presidents, David Mark and Bukola Saraki.
Aside were Board of Trustees (BOT) members, National Executive Committee (NEC) members, PDP Senators and House of Representatives Members, National Working Committe (NWC) members of the party, Deputy Director Generals (DDGs), Directors, Deputies and Assistant Directors of National Campaign Managemet Committee (NCMC); Members of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the party.
Recall INEC in early hours of last Wednesday had declared Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election and President-elect of the presidential poll held on February 25.
Recall, according to the results announced early Wednesday morning by the INEC, Tinubu of the APC polled 8,794,726 to defeat Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP with 6,884,520 votes, while Peter Obi of Labour Party and Sen. Rabiu Kwakwanso of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) recorded 6,101,533 in third position and 1,496,687 votes (4th position) respectively.
The margin between Tinubu who polled 8,794,726 votes and Obi who polled 6,101,533 is over 2.6million votes.
Atiku, 76, who has now run for presidency race six times, polled 6,984,520 votes, ahead of Obi who polled 6,101,533.
Tinubu, Atiku, and Obi led in 12 States each, while Kwakwaso of NNPP led only in one State (Kano).
Recall during the collation process there had been protests against INEC, with demands that the Commission upload the results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
In a related development, agents of the PDP and other opposition parties had staged a walkout of the International Collation Centre in protest. Demostrations had trailed the development last Tuesday by demonstrators demanding INEC to electronically upload the results against manual collation adopted by the Commission.
Meanwhile, in his reaction, Atiku had last Thursday rejected the declaration of Tinubu as winner of the presidential polls, arguing that the level of “manipulation and fraud that attended this election was unprecedented in the history of our nation.”
Atiku last Thursday, in his first media briefing in Abuja, after the poll, described the process as flawed – “a rape of democracy” which he said “must be challenged.”
Although, Tinubu in his acceptance speech which was delivered at the headquarters of his campaign on Wednesday morning, extended hands of fellowship to Atiku, Obi, and others who contested the race with him, there are enough indications that the major contestants would challenge the outcome in court.
Both Atiku and Obi have declared their resolve to protest the outcome of the poll and challenge it in court.
Leadership of the PDP in a bid to further display resistance against the outcome, on Sundays notified members of the party that a protest will be staged Monday morning in front of INEC’s building.
According to the notice by the Director of Administration of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Ibrahim Bashir, the party informed its members that the protest would take off from the Legacy House in the Maitama area by 10 am.
“I am directed to respectfully invite Your Excellencies: The National Chairman, Dr Iyrochia Ayu, The Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Okowa.
“Governors of; Akwa Ibom and Chairman of PCC, Mr Udom Emmanuel, Sokoto state and DG of PCC, Rt Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and Governors of Bayelsa, Edo, Adamawa, Bauchi, Taraba and Osun States.
“Former Senate Presidents, Senator David Mark and Senator Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, BOT members, NEC members, PDP Senators and House of Representatives Members, NWC members of the party, DDGs, Directors, Deputies and Assistant Directors of NCMC; Members of the PCC;
“Leadership of People Living With Disabilities and all other Stakeholders to a protest march to INEC Office.
“Endeavour to be very punctual please,” the notice stated.
Resistance against outcome, an attempt to draw us back, create chaos – Osoba
Meanwhile, in reaction to PDP’s resistance to the outcome of the poll, former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba on Sunday said the rejection of the 2023 presidential election results by the PDP and its candidate, Atiku, and his counterpart in the Labour Party (LP), Obi is an attempt to heat up the polity.
Osoba who spoke in an interview he granted on Journalist Hangout, a programme on the Television Continental (TVC), argued that Tinubu won the presidential poll without controversy, stating that Atiku and Obi’s resistance “is an attempt to draw us back, and create chaos within the system.”
He argued that the election is one of the most peaceful ever conducted in Nigeria, stating that Nigerians are wiser and would not allow themselves to be instigated or provoked into heating up the Country.
“It is an attempt to draw us back, and create chaos within the system. They all have the results of the elections signed by their agents all over the Country. They know very well what happened. To now claim that they won the election, that is a disappointment to me. I can assure you, Nigerians are wiser now, and nobody will be instigated or provoked into turning this Country on fire.
“I must say with all sense of responsibility, the 2023 elections have been the most peaceful election we’ve ever had. And against all they are churning out… with the BVAS, issues of loading fake figures are eliminated, and making comparisons with other elections is not accurate. The turnout in this election is the highest turnout and it’s reasonably transparent.
“In spite of the fact that the BVAS was not loaded in time, that should not be the reason why anyone will query the result, because the results have been counted and signed at the polling unit, collated at the ward level, and local government level, and signed by all agents and then to the House of Reps (representatives) collation centers and Senatorial Centers signed, and at the state levels the presidential results were collated there and signed. So, about six levels have been totally correct and transparent. I will assure you that by the time you download results uploaded on the server and compare it with results that were delivered at all the stages, I have mentioned it will tally.
“Do a scientific analysis of the results — look at Asiwaju’s electoral spread, it is the greatest spread I have ever seen. I have been involved in elections since 1959. Here is a candidate that defied all odds. He won in the middle belts, the hotseat for the religious issue. He won Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Niger States, and made an impact in Plateau.
“Atiku coming out to say he’s unhappy… In the caliphate (Sokoto), Atiku won with a difference of about 3,000 margins to Asiwaju’s vote. Atiku won in Osun, I was born in Osogbo, it beat my imagination that would come into my State of birth and won, is he saying he also rigged in Osun? All the noise about winning…
“I looked at Obi’s performance. In Nasarawa, Obi won. In Lagos he won; in Delta, he won, and now you are querying the results. As far as I’m concerned, this election has shown that the mandate is a prime mandate, southern Nigeria and northern Nigeria have shown unity. A man who can win 25 percent, a man who scored 80 per cent and you’re saying he manipulated the examination. Atiku and Obi should come out with specific information not just random information,” he said.
…Presidential poll failed Nigerians’ expectation, INEC should fix challenges before March 11 — U.S.
Meanwhile, the United States has said that the presidential poll of February 25 fell short of the expectations of Nigerians.
The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said that many Nigerians are angry and frustrated with the process and outcome of the elections.
Leonard, in an op-ed, ‘The Elections of February 25’ called on INEC to address promptly the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections, and to undertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix them.
She said in all cases, INEC should share with the Nigerian public information about the actions it is taking.
The statement reads, “The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned. In the coming days, it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians not let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.
“We commend Mr. Obi and Mr. Abubakar for their recent statements committing to take this path, and Mr. Tinubu, who INEC declared the president-elect under Nigeria’s electoral framework, for acknowledging their right to do so.
“The United States is no stranger to election-related controversy and conflict. As much as it can be unsatisfying to end an electoral process in a courtroom, in a constitutional democracy bound by the rule of law, that is where electoral conflicts may appropriately conclude. “It is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations. As I said numerous times prior to the elections, Nigeria has accomplished much in just the two-plus decades since the return to democracy, and a gradual improvement in the quality of its elections in that time constitutes one of those accomplishments.
“ We recognize that Nigerians want that positive trend to continue, including through the use of new technology intended to make the process of reporting results more transparent.
“We thus reiterate our call on INEC to address promptly the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections, and to undertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix them. In all cases, INEC should share with the Nigerian public information about the actions it is taking.
“I also want to highlight some of the remarkable results from this past election that show how Nigeria’s political landscape is indisputably changing. In more than half of the states – 20 – the winning candidate represented a different party than that of the incumbent governor.
“Twelve of these states are led by APC Governors. For the first time, four presidential candidates won at least one state, and the top three each won 12 states based on these initial results. In the National Assembly elections, even with results still incomplete, we already know that changes are afoot: seven sitting governors lost in their attempts to win election to the Assembly; the Laboor Party has won at least seven seats in the Senate; the NNPP has won at least 11 seats in the House of Representatives.
“The Nigerian people have made clear their desire for responsive and inclusive governance, and we strongly support their ability to express that desire. The United States and Nigeria are the two largest presidential democracies in the world, and longtime partners. As Nigeria goes through these next weeks and months, we stand with you.”
