THE candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 presidential election, Abubakar Atiku has rejected the result of the election which in which President Muhammadu Buhari was re-elected for another tern of four years.
The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, announced the results of the election early hours of Wednesday and pronounced Buhari the winner of the election.
Buhari secured a total of 15,191,847 votes, representing over 56 per cent of the entire votes cast. Buhari won in 19 out of the 36 states of the federation and also got the required 25 per cent of votes in two-thirds of all states as required by the Nigerian Electoral Act.
On the other hand, Atiku won in 17 states and the FCT, polling a total of 11,262, 978 votes or just over 42 per cent of the total votes.
But in a statement on Wednesday, Atiku said he would be challenging the results declared by INEC in court as the process was massively rigged.
“If I had lost in a free and fair election, I would have called the victor within seconds of my being aware of his victory to offer not just my congratulations, but my services to help unite Nigeria by being a bridge between the North and the South,” Atiku said in a statement issued by himself.
“However, in my democratic struggles for the past three decades, I have never seen our democracy so debased as it was on Saturday, February 23, 2019.
“2007 was a challenge, but President Yar’Adua was remorseful. In 2019, it is sad to see those who trampled on democracy thumping their noses down on the Nigerian people.
“Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court.”