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…Don’t hold us responsible if Nigerians take to the street
The Labour Party has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to suspend further announcement of the results emanating from last Saturday presidential election.
Labour party said it has lost confidence in the results being collated and being announced and that it is convinced that the processes leading to the results have been severely compromised.
In a briefing in Abuja, the Director General of the ObiDatti Campaign Organisation, Prof. Akin Osuntokun said that though President Buhari promised Nigerians free and fair elections with the passage of the new Electoral Act and indeed has repeated this promise multiple times, yet, none of the promises, including that of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood were kept.
He said, “What has become glaring is that none of these promises have been kept. All the promises made about deploying a fail-safe system anchored on BVAS were broken.
“The internet and social media is awash with videos and photographic evidences of the pervasive violence and attacks that were visited on Nigerians with some attacks still on-going across the country as we speak.
“The evidence of collusion between INEC and the security forces to subvert the will of the people are too numerous to be detailed here.
“The INEC guidelines on the conduct of the elections were extensively breached and INEC has evidently been very reluctant to make the necessary adjustment to remedy the situation.
“Contrary to the publicly advertised guidelines for the conduct of the elections, we are convinced that the
processes leading to the results have been severely compromised. Consequently, we regret to state that we
have lost confidence in the results being collated and being announced.
“Nigerians have inundated us with calls and protests over INEC’s non-compliance with provisions of the electoral guidelines and the obvious manipulations of the election results.
“We hereby call on INEC to suspend further announcement of the results, and follow its own guidelines or completely cancel the entire election and make plans for another election with strict compliance with the stipulated laws and guidelines.
“We ask the international community to walk their talk in Nigeria, and cease to condone the multiple evils being perpetrated in our country by the rulers of Nigeria. There cannot be one standard for Nigeria, and another for the rest of the world.
“We thank Nigerians for their support for our candidates, and we assure you all that your mandate shall not be surrendered to a desperate gaggle of failed rulers, who have brought nothing but ruination on our dear country.”
Earlier, the Director Media, Obidatti Campaign Organisation, Diran Onifade warned that in the likelihood that Nigerians take to the street in protest of the election robbery, no one should the party responsible.
He said that Nigerians have been taken for granted for long and it was not the task of the party to assuage peoples feelings.
He said, “From all across the country, millions of Nigerians eager for a new order, trooped out to the polling booths, hopeful in the promise of INEC and the Federal Government, that a responsible and credible process, will be ensured, through a level playing field.
“After careful consideration of field reports from locations around the country, we have on record, hard video, documentary and first hand evidences of criminal conspiracies , tricks and irregularities by some INEC and security officials on one side, and also vicious attacks by political thugs, as well as clear evidence of inducement by politicians, one of whom was caught with half a million dollars in cash.
“In the light of the above, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council is of the firm conviction, that the processes and practices as carried on by INEC, and as permitted by some security agencies, do not in the most reasonable minimum, meet the required standards of credibility and were not fundamentally, free and fair.
“On the basis of these anomalies, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation hereby states that the conduct of the elections of 25th February 2023, including the ongoing charade of declaration of ‘results’ in the states and in Abuja are unacceptable, and we hereby demand unequivocally, for the suspension of all processes, until these recorded cases of compromise, illegality and criminality are justifiably resolved.”