By Hamid Ayodeji
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council last night alleged that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was planning to file a suit in court to stop the announcement of the presidential election results.
Director, Strategic Communications of the council, Mr. Festus Keyamo, said as at last night, Atiku held a meeting with a group of senior lawyers who were instructed to prepare and file the processes in court today.
He alleged that Atiku was clear in his brief to the lawyers that he must be declared the president-elect of Nigeria by hook or crook, whether he wins or loses, or else he would drag the country down with him.
Keyamo recalled that the June 12, 1993 debacle which brought Nigeria to its knees and caused the country international isolation was precipitated by a court injunction stopping the announcement of presidential election results.
The statement read: “Our usual patriotic sources from within the PDP circle and Atiku’s campaign team have reliably informed us that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has perfected plans to finally scuttle our democracy and throw the country into constitutional crises by surreptitiously obtaining an exparte (one-sided) court order stopping the announcement of the presidential election results, which he fears have gone against him.
“We understand that a meeting was held today with a group of senior lawyers who were instructed to prepare and file the processes in court on Monday, February 25, 2019. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was clear in his brief to the lawyers that he must be declared the President-elect of Nigeria by hook or crook, whether he wins or loses, or else he would drag the country down with him.
Nigerians would recall that the June 12, 1993 debacle that brought Nigeria to its knees and caused our country international isolation was precipitated by a court injunction stopping the announcement of presidential election results.
“The court order was obtained by a certain Association for Better Nigeria headed then by one Chief Authur Nzeribe. This is exactly what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who claims to be a democrat, wants to foist on this nation again because of his inordinate ambition.
“For us our position is very simple and straight forward: we wish to allow the legal process of declaring presidential election results to take place peacefully and in an orderly fashion. President Buhari is not desperate, but is very confident of victory.
“We also note their attempt to discredit the entire elections by certain isolated incidents of violence in some parts of the country. For instance, Lagos State that has more than 13,000 voting points recorded a very unfortunate, despicable and condemnable act of violence in one voting point that was clearly not perpetuated by any known or accredited member of our party. Yet the PDP has cried out to the world about ‘burning of ballot papers in most parts the country’.
“We therefore wish to advice anyone who wishes to aid and encourage Alhaji Atiku Abubakar along this infamous part to remember the June 12 debacle. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar may also wish to learn a lesson or two from President Muhammadu Buhari who resorted to the court of law in 2003 when Atiku, along with President Olusegun Obasanjo, ‘defeated’ him in the presidential race in that year in controversial circumstances. President Buhari, as a true statesman and democrat, never resorted to underhand tactics to declare himself president.”
