Presidential poll: Atiku, Tambuwal lead PDP’s protest to INEC

• It won’t give you victory – Tinubu

• ‘Our allegiance to Nigerians not parties’

Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday staged a peaceful demonstration in Abuja over the conduct of the February 25, presidential and national assembly elections and the declaration of the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as president-elect.

The party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, its national chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, and the director general of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PCO), Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, led the protest to the office of the INEC.

They were joined by some members of the National Working Committee (NWC), Board of Trustees (BoT) and the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the party.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions like: “INEC, we say no to election rigging”, “no more cheating”, “it is time for change” and “save our democracy.”

Addressing the protesters before submitting the party’s petition to INEC, Ayu reiterated PDP’s call for the cancelation of the February 25, elections and the conduct of fresh polls that would meet the expectations of Nigerians and the international community.

INEC’s allegiance to Nigerians, not parties – Okoye

Addressing the PDP members after receiving the petition on behalf of the commission, INEC’s National Commissioner and chairman Voter Education, Festus Okoye, said the electoral body would attend to the petition accordingly.

He noted that INEC’s loyalty was to Nigerians and not any political party.

He said, “If there are remedial issues to be dealt with, we are going to deal with those remedial issues.”

PDP vows to resist manipulation of guber polls

In the petition submitted to INEC, PDP vowed that it would resist any attempt to manipulate the coming governorship and Houses of Assembly elections.

Jointly signed by Ayu and the National Secretary of the party, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, the opposition party said it was disheartening that the elections, which raised the hopes of Nigerians, turned out to be a charade.

“Nigerians are no more in doubt of your direct involvement in aiding and abetting the monumental rigging and manipulation of the election results in favour of the ruling party (APC). In addition, the refusal and neglect of your electoral officers to transmit the results of the election directly from the Polling Units (PU) to INEC’s server as required by law is a flagrant violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

“This action is not acceptable to Nigerians, and neither to the PDP. It, therefore, stands to be challenged. The PDP detests and condemns this absurdity and brazen rape of our electoral process,” the petition reads.

Protest won’t give you victory – Tinubu

President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has asked the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to stop disturbing public peace in the name of protest, saying that would not give him victory.

Reacting to the protest to INEC headquarters by Atiku and other chieftains of the opposition party yesterday, Tinubu described the action as a “new low and a theatre of the absurd.”

Tinubu, who spoke through the Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Bayo Onanuga said it was strange that a former vice president of the country could be so idle as to disturb the public peace.