Atiku leads PDP Abuja protest, vows to continue it until justice is obtained
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Atiku Abubakar led other chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday marched on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja, demanding a review or cancellation of the result of the presidential election held on February 25.
Atiku vowed outside the INEC office the protest will continue until justice is obtained.
Both he and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi have rejected the announcement of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu as the winner of the ballot and have gone to the Appeal Court.
Therefore, the protest is a double fisted punch on the INEC coupled with the lawsuit.
The protesters, all dressed in black, started the march from PDP headquarters at Legacy House, causing heavy traffic congestion in the Maitama axis.
Other PDP big wigs who joined the protest included National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu, Governors Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Darius Ishaku (Taraba), former National Chairman Uche Secondus, Senator Dino Melaye, Governors Emeka Ihediaha (Imo), and Boni Haruna (Adamawa).
“All the provisions of the current electoral law have been completely contravened,” Atiku told journalists.
“We were protesting and then INEC was not listening and went on to announce the result. That is why we are protesting. We have the right to protest and it will continue for a very long time, either every day or any other day.
“We have the right to protest under the Constitution, and it doesn’t stop us from going to the court.’’
The PDP in a protest letter to the INEC warned against messing up the governorship and state Assembly elections on March 11.
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Breach of Electoral Act
The letter was received on behalf of INEC National Chairman Mahmoud Yakubu by INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Voter Education and Publicity, Festus Okoye, as reported by The PUNCH.
Ayu told him: “We call on your Commission to suspend the ongoing transmission of the polling units results to your servers which is in complete breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
“We reject and declare as unacceptable the outcome, announcement and declaration of the presidential election results.
“We want to warn your Commission against a repeat of the experiences of the February 25 election in the coming governorship and state Assembly elections of March 11, 2023. Any attempt to manipulate the electoral process will be vehemently resisted.
“We demand an explanation why you proceeded with the declaration of the election results marred by irregularities against all calls to address the complaints brought to your attention before and during the collation process.’’
Ayu condemned the irregularities in the election, insisting Nigeria should be seen as a country governed by the rule of law, a responsibility he said the PDP owes the citizens.
He implored all Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora to stand firmly in defence of their rights, votes and “stolen mandate.’’
“We call on all Nigerians to be co-partners in defence of our democracy, votes, the rule of law and their rights to freely choose the candidates of their choice.’’
Presenting the letter, Ayu insisted the INEC must cancel the election and conduct a fresh one “that will be respected not only by Nigerians but by the whole international community.”
Okoye said: “I have received this protest letter on behalf of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission and I promise you this letter will be transmitted to him.
“If there are remedial issues we will deal with those remedial issues. But I want to assure you that this Commission is a listening Commission. This Commission is a public trust and this Commission belongs to the Nigerian people.
“This Commission does not owe allegiance to any political party. We don’t have any allegiance to any candidate. Our allegiance is to the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I want to thank all of you for the peaceful way this protest has been conducted but I want to plead that all of us should continue to be peaceful and all of us should continue to respect the integrity of the Commission and also the integrity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I am going to go and hand over the protest letter to the Chairman of the Commission and I want to assure you that the Commission will meet over this letter, look into it and address some of the issues.”
APC mocks PDP over protest
APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, urged Atiku to stop allowing his campaign spokesman, Dino Melayo, push him around, per reporting by Vanguard.
Onanuga scoffed in a statement that “dancing Skelewu” on the streets of Abuja will not make the INEC change its mind about the winner of the presidential election.
The statement titled, “Atiku Abubakar and his band of jesters at INEC headquarters”, said the APC is not surprised to see that rather than keep his promise to seek legal redress, Atiku allowed himself to be teleguided by his foot soldiers, including Melaye.
“Going by his political antecedents, it was rather not surprising that Atiku, days later, led a band of protesters, nay jesters in Abuja, to the Headquarters of INEC,” Onanuga added.
“What was on display today by Alhaji Atiku and his motley crowd was a new low from the perennial election loser.
“With Atiku staging a theatre of the absurd, we fail to see how a march to INEC by a scanty crowd will provide any victory window for him and his fragmented PDP. The only recourse open to Atiku after the electoral umpire declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the President-elect, is the Election Petition Tribunal.
“Instead Atiku and his party wisely spend their time to gather the so-called evidence they hope to present before the courts, they are busy dancing ‘skelewu’ on the streets and causing traffic nuisance to residents of the Federal Capital Territory who were going to work on a Monday morning.
“We don’t expect a former Vice President of Nigeria, a statesman and a presidential candidate to be so jobless as to have time to disturb public peace over an electoral outcome he had already said he would challenge in court.”
Age not on your side, APC tells Atiku
Onanuga admonished Atiku “to respect his age and the high office of the Vice Presidency of Nigeria he once occupied.”
“He should stop being tele-guided by Dino Melaye, who disclosed scandalously that N400 billion was wasted on the election, which was clear at the outset that Atiku was bound to lose.
“Atiku should avoid being misdirected by other court jesters in his party, who continued to campaign after the election, still spewing their inanities against the President-elect. They are mere comic characters in a travelling theatre group.
“INEC Headquarters is not a court where the prayers of Alhaji Atiku can be answered. No amount of theatrical display will give him succour. The honourable and lawful path to take is for Atiku to get his lawyers to plead his case in court.
“He should stop throwing tantrums like a baby whose candy was taken away over an election he clearly lost due to his own poor judgment; mismanagement of his own party and violation of power rotational arrangement between the North and the South.
“The PDP presidential candidate dug his own grave in his last election and, absurdly, he is trying to rewrite the script of his own utter failure.
“We wonder how Atiku and his party hoped to win, when he himself admitted that Peter Obi, his running mate in 2019, ran away with traditional PDP votes from the South East and South South.
“We advise Atiku to retire honourably from politics and move to his abode in Dubai. At 77 in November, Atiku does not have age on his side again. He has participated in his last election and hopefully, he has learnt worthy lessons, never to place his selfish interests above party and established principles in his party and the polity.”
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