The Labour party has demanded that the “compromised” election be cancelled and that the publication of election results be suspended.
The call was made today, February 27, by the Labour Party’s Presidential Campaign Council.
The Director-General of the Labour Party Campaign Council, Dr Akin Osuntokun, stated at a press conference that none of the promises made by President Buhari and INEC Chairman Yakub Mahmood to Nigerians regarding a free and fair election following the passage of the new Electoral Act has been fulfilled.
The internet and social media are flooded with videos and photographic evidence of the pervasive violence and attacks that were inflicted on Nigerians during the elections, according to Osuntokun, who also noted that some attacks were still occurring throughout the nation.
Osuntokun claimed that all promises about deploying a fail-safe system anchored on BVAS were broken.
He emphasized that numerous examples of collusion between INEC and the security forces to thwart the will of the people could be found and that INEC’s rules for the conduct of the elections were flagrantly broken. He also claimed that INEC has been very hesitant to make the necessary corrections.
He said, “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 state that we have lost confidence in the results being collated and 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 the 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.”
The party, according to Osuntokun, is urging the global community to stop tolerating the “multiple evils” being committed in Nigeria by the country’s leaders and start acting responsibly.
He said, “There cannot be one standard for Nigeria and another for the rest of the world.”
Osuntokun praised Nigerians for supporting their presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and reassured their supporters that their mandates would not be given up to a desperate gang of failed leaders who have only brought destruction to their beloved country.
The party encouraged Nigerians to uphold the law and maintain peace.