PDP and its option of battle

THE main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has obtained the leave of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to inspect the electoral materials used for the February 23 presidential election. This followed its decision to challenge the outcome of the exercise which the party claims it’s confident it won but with wrong results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).  The result of the election issued by the electoral body showed that President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) got 15,191,847, coming tops in 19 states of the federation, while the PDP’s standard-bearer, Atiku Abubakar, was credited with 11,262,978, winning 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). That amounted to a difference of 3,928,869 between the two candidates. In rejecting it, Atiku described the declaration of President Buhari as the winner of the election as a grand theft. Now, the party is set to unleash its fireworks at the courts in a determined fight to reclaim what it says is its stolen mandate.

The former vice-president has already inaugurated his team of lawyers, headed by Dr. Levi Uzoukwu, to string together what he believes will be a compelling argument which he is confident will give him the day in the courts. He is building his case on his understanding that the outcome of the election did not reflect the will of the people. Atiku has argued that voter turnout was suppressed in PDP strongholds, while those of the APC, including areas with security challenges recorded “miraculous” voter turnout.

Therefore, he maintained: “As you all know, democracy is the government of the people and by the people only when the people’s choice prevails. That did not happen on Saturday, February 23, 2019. On election day, we saw the implementation of grand theft of the people’s will. I am not one for hyperbole. So, I will just let the facts speak for themselves.

“In Akwa Ibom, for instance, the result showed a statistical impossibility of a 62 per cent drop in voter number from the 2015 elections even where voter registration and Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) collection rate was much higher in 2015. This is where voter suppression took place. You must recall, our party made this observation and complained, before the elections, that there were plans to implement voter suppression on PDP or opposition’s strongholds and voter increase in APC strongholds. This pattern was repeated in strongholds of PDP, including in states like Delta, Rivers, Abia and Benue states.”

Atiku, who added that “we have the real figures; we have the facts that  have spoken so loudly on Saturday, February 23, 2019,” was of the belief that “as this was occurring, we saw another statistical impossibility where the real number increased astronomically in Borno State by an equally miraculous 82 per cent, in the midst of insecurity. This pattern was also repeated in other strongholds of the APC states.

“One begins to ask if insecurity is conducive to higher voter turnout and security is antithetical to high voter turnout. It is further curious that the PDP’s margin of victory in states outside the South-East and South-South were extremely slim across board. That again is a statistical impossibility. The fact is that when you calmly look at the numbers declared by INEC as results of February 23, 2019 elections, they do not add up at all. Let me say that I am not speaking as a member of the PDP.  I am speaking as a Nigerian, when I said the electoral fraud perpetrated by the Buhari-led administration this past Saturday (three Saturdays ago) cannot produce a government of the people for the simple reason that it does not reflect the will of the Nigerian people.

“My dear Nigerians, it is for this reason that I, Atiku Abubakar, reject the results declared by the INEC which declared Muhammadu Buhari as duly returned by the majority of the lawful votes.”

Atiku’s decision to go to court is coming against the backdrop of admonition by many critical voices for him to let go of his ambition and congratulate President Buhari. One of such stakeholders, who pleaded with him, is former Head of State and Chairman of the National Peace Committee (NPC), General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who he told that not even the military had conducted a worse election in the country.

Also, former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, wanted Atiku to work with the president to move the country forward. While congratulating Buhari for his victory and urging him to heal the wounds arising from the brutal campaign, Babangida said: “I call on the former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to close ranks and work with the winner of the election in an objective and constructive manner so that democracy will continue to thrive in our country at this crucial period of renaissance. I urge him also to endeavour to prevail on his admirers to eschew bitterness and violence. They must be prevailed upon to understand that politics is a game in which there must be only one winner.”

Prominent civil rights lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, also weighed in, urging the PDP standard-bearer not to go to court.

His words: “I understand the PDP is aggrieved about the outcome of the election and alleged massive irregularities. But I urge the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, not to approach the election petition tribunal. He might have moved backwards by his loss, but he should not lose sight of the legacy and greatness that lies in front of him.

“Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is in a strong position to take up the mantle of a statesman. He can build a new Nigeria movement from the motley of small parties, third force actors, change actors and millions who are desperate for a strong, united Nigeria. There is also a lot of work to be done in both political and electoral reforms. I request former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to step into the shoes. This is not to say I do not recognise the massive irregularities in the 2019 presidential election. I can see how tempting it is to take the option of the election petition tribunal, but that, in my view, is not the right decision.”

However, diverse socio-cultural cum socio-political organisations in the country, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and Northern Elders Forum (NEF) have given their backing to Atiku’s legal pursuit, as they themselves had rejected the presidential election results.

These regional groups, along with the Middle Belt Forum, had previously endorsed the PDP presidential candidate as president. They have now counseled Atiku to exhaust all legitimate means available to him to reclaim his victory.

Prior to the declaration of the results, the PDP had expressed the belief that it had everything in place to win the election. It held robust campaigns that drew massive crowds across the country. Its message was based on the perceived incompetence of the ruling party and its inability to revive the economy and ensure the security of lives and property.

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The PDP fed into the disillusionment of the populace and was confident that the failings of the APC-led administration would cause people to return Atiku as the next president of the country. But as the results were coming out from the states, the main opposition party cried foul, alleging that the process did not conform to the expected standards of transparency and as such, was neither free nor fair.

The party wanted the collation of results halted until data from the smart card reader accreditation at the polling units were made available to all the parties in the election.

Tanimu Turaki, SAN, Deputy Director General (Administration) of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, had said that the PDP predicated its demand on available evidence to the effect that data from the card readers were being reconfigured to suit the manipulation, rigging and over-voting already carried out during the election in some states by the APC. He said the PDP had evidence from the smart card reader accreditation data that what was being announced by INEC had been seriously tampered with and manipulated.

The PDP was particularly miffed by the returns from Yobe, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Borno states. It observed that in Yobe, the total number of votes submitted as cast was more than the number of accredited voters. Whereas the number of accredited voters was 601, 056, the total votes cast was 775, 449. The party pointed out that this was a clear case of over-voting which, by the provisions of the Electoral Act, rendered the election null and void. According to the former ruling party, no actual voting took place in Zamfara State and there was no single result sheet in any polling unit in the entire state.

“There was an arrest in Shinkafi Local Government Area, where an APC member was caught thump-printing ballot papers inside his house. Results from the presiding officer from Zamfara State were concocted and allocated according to the wishes of the leadership of the APC and INEC,” the PDP alleged.

Also, for Borno State, the party said there was no election but a figure writing exercise and allocation of results according to the whims and caprices of the APC leaders. It pointed out that over 157, 000 and 30,000 of lawful and valid votes which it said belonged to it were unlawfully and arbitrarily cancelled by INEC in Nasarawa and Plateau states, respectively, just like in Kogi State where it observed that over 79, 000 valid votes belonging to it were also unlawfully cancelled by INEC.

In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the PDP cited 27,000 of its valid votes unlawfully and arbitrarily cancelled by INEC.

With all these and more in mind, the PDP was determined to press its case in the courts and Atiku had given fillip to this position as he affirmed that there could be no going back in the effort to reclaim his mandate with the belief that the nation’s judiciary is upright and fearless enough to adjudicate the case on its merit. Both Atiku and his party said they were, therefore, confident that justice would be served in the end.