The Presidency has said that it will not lose any sleep over the decision of the candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar to challenge the outcome of last Saturday’s Presidential election in court.
“Our electoral Act and the constitution have both provided a window for whoever is dissatisfied with the process of election to seek redress. That is the path and we will encourage them to go along that path,” said Secretary to the government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.
Buhari polled 15,191,847 votes, winning in 19 states to defeat Atiku Abubakar, the PDP candidate who polled 11,262,978 votes, according to results released by INEC. Atiku described the election as the worst in the history of Nigeria and likened it to rape on democracy. He said allowing the outcome of the election to stand will be a great disservice to the country. He vowed to use every democratic means to fight and reclaim his mandate.
However, the Presidency has encouraged the PDP candidate to approach the courts if he feels strongly against the outcome of the polls which gave President Buhari victory over the former president. Fielding questions from newsmen at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Wednesday night, Mustapha said the country’s constitution and the electoral act have provided that whoever is not satisfied with results of an election should take their grouse to the courts.
“We are not jittery at all because the process was open and transparent. It was a credible election and we will continue to savor in the victory but in the process too, we will extend the hand of friendship for the purpose of nation-building and reconciliation.”
Mustapha assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari will do more for them in his second term, especially in the area of provision of infrastructure development.
In a related development, the chairman of the ruling APC, Adams Oshiomhole, dismissed Atiku as a political rolling stone not destined to be Nigeria’s president. He spoke Thursday in Abuja at a news conference while reacting to allegations made by Atiku and the PDP that the elections was not credible.
Oshiomhole said the Nigerian electorate has spoken, as such Atiku would certainly not rule Nigeria in spite of his desperation.
He added that those waiting for an Atiku free market regime had missed it, as Nigeria does not need such investors. The APC national chairman stressed that what the country needed at the moment were genuine investors with long term interest and ready to invest in real production and labor intensive industries. Oshiomhole expressed optimism that genuine investors who had genuine businesses and ideas and knew the market potentials of the Nigerian economy would remain in spite of what the opposition thought.
He chided Atiku for assuming that the country’s future was tied to his presidency, explaining that Atiku’s interest was all about himself. He wondered what gave the former Vice President and PDP presidential candidate the sense of entitlement that he must be the country’s president. Oshiomhole noted that the APC would not deny anyone the right to dispute the outcome of an election in court. “So we are looking forward to meeting Atiku Abubakar in court,” Oshiomhole said.
