President Muhammadu Buhari has told the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, to go to court if they believe they have any case against the conduct of the just concluded 2023 Presidential Election.
The President stated this as a response to the reaction of the two leading opposition candidates, Atiku and Obi, whose parties have accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of compromise and called for the cancellation of the election.
The INEC in the early hours of Wednesday, March 1, had declared the candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) the winner of the election after he polled a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates.
While the President acknowledged that that the exercise was not without fault, he maintained that the election did not lose its freeness and fairness.
He said, “For instance, there were technical problems with electronic transmission of the results. Of course, there will be areas that need work to bring further transparency and credibility to the voting procedure.
“However, none of the issues registered represent a challenge to the freeness and fairness of the elections.
“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 is committed against them, then bring forward the evidence. 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.
“However, to do the latter means they are not doing it in the interest of the people, but rather to inflame, to put people in harm’s way and all for personal, selfish gains.
“After a degree of polarization that necessarily accompanies any election, it is now time to come together and act responsibly. I call on all candidates to remember the peace pledge they signed just days before the election. Do not undermine the credibility of INEC. Let us now move forward as one. The people have spoken.”
