Afenifere’s Adebanjo says INEC should have fixed problems before announcing winner
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Afenifere leader Ayo Adebanjo has poured cold water on the performance of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) in the presidential election, saying the result is pure charade.
He knocked the critics of former President Olusegun Obasanjo following his letter which urged INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu to suspend the announcement of the result until complaints of malpractices made by opposition parties were fixed.
The election is “just the result of a bad government; a disaster that God will help us to get rid of,”Adebanjo argued on Arise TV, per reporting by The PUNCH.
“I can assure you there is no president-elect at all. This is just a sham which will be pulled in due course. This is a game we all see, we’re all living witnesses to it.
“Why don’t you follow the law for the election, that would just be peaceful. Those who are criticising, leave the issue, they take up on OBJ; it is the message that the man says you have not done ABC, reply to that. You pick on the messenger.
“On this occasion now, it is not a question of whether you win or not, but is it the method the law provides for the election? Have you followed it? Let them answer that, that’s the problem. Why are you beating about the bush?”
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How 18 candidates shared 25.3m presidential votes
Eighteen political parties fielded candidates for the presidential election on February 25 who polled a combined 25.3 million valid votes.
The INEC had earlier announced 93.5 million people registered for the election, out of which 87.2 collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
Yakubu last Wednesday declared All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Tinubu won the contest having scored 8,794,726 votes.
Yakubu said Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar came second with 6,984,520 votes, and Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi third with 6,101,533.
Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) scored 1,496,687 votes to come fourth.
Below is how all the 18 candidates fared, according to figures released by the INEC, per reporting by The PUNCH:
| Candidate name | Party | Total votes |
| Imumolen Christopher | A | 61,014 |
| Hamza Al-Mustapha | AA | 14,542 |
| Omoyele Sowore | AAC | 14,608 |
| Dumebi Kachikwu | ADC | 81,919 |
| Yabagi Sani Yusuf | ADP | 43,924 |
| Bola Tinubu | APC | 8,794,726 |
| Peter Umeadi | APGA | 61,966 |
| Princess Ojei Chichi | APM | 25,961 |
| Charles Nnadi | APP | 12,839 |
| Sunday Adenuga | BP | 16,156 |
| Peter Obi | LP | 6,101,533 |
| Rabiu Kwankwaso | NNPP | 1,496,687 |
| Felix Johnson | NRM | 24,869 |
| Atiku Abubakar | PDP | 6,984,520 |
| Kola Abiola | PRP | 72,144 |
| Adewole Adebayo | SDP | 80,267 |
| AAbdul-Malik Ado-Ibrahim | YPP | 60,600 |
| Dan Nwanyanwu | ZLP | 77,665 |