The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the just concluded election of February 25, Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to ensure that the alleged fraud perpetrated by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is reversed.
Recall that Atiku came second behind the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Against the outcome of the election, Atiku vowed to head to court to protest the result announced by INEC and reclaim his stolen mandate in due course.
In a video circulated by his media aide, Paul Ibe, on Wednesday, Atiku said: “I thank you immensely for your high sense of patriotism in bracing the myriads of odds to perform your civic duty during the February 25 presidential election. I truly appreciate your resilience, tenacity, and courage.
“As attested to by both local and international observers, the result of the February 25 presidential election, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, was grossly tainted and did not reflect the will of the electorate. You all have demonstrated against this blatant injustice through different mediums. And for that, I thank you again for your non-violent conduct despite the provocations.
“Indeed, what the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did in announcing the manipulated result was a clear breach of not only the 2022 Electoral Act but also its own guidelines which the electoral commission had repeatedly claimed would uphold the standards we had seen in the Osun and Ekiti elections. The INEC chairman further ignored calls for a review of the process in line with the amended law.
“My fellow citizens, all hope is not lost. You must never give in to apathy. I assure you that the electoral fraud perpetrated by INEC will be reversed in due course as I champion the cause to reclaim our mandate.”