News
“Show Evidence if you can Prove the Fraud Committed.”- Buhari
“Show evidence if you can prove the fraud committed.”- Buhari
“If any candidate believes they can prove the fraud… then bring forward the evidence.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that the Saturday presidential election, which saw former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu emerge victorious, was flawed.
Mr Buhari also charged Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party to challenge the outcome of the poll in court if they have proof that the exercise was rigged in Mr Tinubu’s favour. NewsReport gathered.
That is not to say the exercise (Saturday’s election) was without fault. “For instance, there were technical problems with the electronic transmission of the results,” said the Nigerian leader. “Of course, there will be areas that need work to bring further transparency and credibility to the voting procedure. However, none of the issues raised pose a threat to the election’s freedom and fairness.”
Mr Buhari made the announcement in a statement issued by his media aide, Garba Shehu, congratulating the president-elect.
I know some politicians and candidates may not agree with this view. That, too, is fine. “If any candidate believes they can prove the fraud they claim was committed against them, then bring forward the evidence,” said Mr. Buhari.
“If they cannot, then we must conclude that the election was indeed the people’s will—no matter how hard that may be for the losers to accept.” If they feel the need to challenge, please take it to the courts, not to the streets.
The president’s speech followed INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu’s declaration of Mr. Tinubu as the winner of Saturday’s presidential election at the National Collation Centre in Abuja.
Mr. Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, winning 12 of the 36 states in Nigeria. Mr. Abubakar polled 6,984,520 votes.
Peter Obi of the Labour Party came in third, polling 6,101,533 votes.
The declaration of Mr. Tinubu as the president-elect came amidst huge protests by the PDP and Labour Party, calling for suspension of result collation and outright cancellation of the presidential poll due to INEC’s failure to upload election results on its server in real time.
