BY GODWIN OBI
Datti Baba-Ahmed, Vice Presidential candidate for the Labour Party (LP), has alleged that the All Progressive Congress (APC) used irregularities and constitutional violations to win the recently held general elections.
After Bola Tinubu of the APC was declared the winner of the presidential election, Datti addressed the media on Wednesday in Abuja and insisted that the Saturday elections did not meet the requirements for a free and fair election.
The former senator reaffirmed the party’s commitment to acting in accordance with the law to pursue justice and urged the judiciary to demonstrate its independence when the case is brought before a court.
He added that he and the party’s presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, would not be persuaded by any amount of pressure to preach against calm and peace and urged Nigerians to cast their votes en masse for the LP in the oncoming gubernatorial and state House of Assembly elections.
“It is our position that the purported result didn’t meet the minimum criteria of a transparent, free and fair election in addition to the most condemnable attacks, voters intimidation and suppression,” Datti stated.
“Please be assured of our determination to fight the injustice that has been perpetuated on Nigerians through all legal and peaceful means. We employ you all to please remain peaceful and calm as our fight and determination for a new Nigeria are just beginning. We equally encourage you all to continue with the campaigns and vote massively for Labour Party in the forthcoming governorship and state House of Assembly elections on 11 March. Our Principal, Mr Peter Obi, will in due course speak to you and indeed the nation.
“No amount of questioning will ever get Peter Obi or myself or any agent of the Labour Party to preach anything besides peace and tranquillity in Nigeria.
“We also ask Nigerians to continue to exercise their civic duties in the upcoming elections. I have said that democracy belongs to the people who can practice it. The only language we know is peace. If Nigerians are going to achieve peace through peaceful protests, so be it.
“We believe more and more in Nigeria and the Nigerian people. Here we are, less than eight months old and we won the election in a country where there is an eight-year concurrent government. As far as we are concerned, we won this election. They refused to upload results. They refused to refer to IREV just for them to defeat us. It took serving government illegality and constitutional breach to defeat Peter Obi and my humble self. Nigerian people are winners.
Datti responded to remarks made on Tuesday by Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who said that the Electoral Act 2022 did not provide for electronic transmission of election results as being demanded by some Nigerians, saying, “The Senate President as far as we are concerned, contested for Presidency and now he is elected Senator by the verdict of the Supreme Court. You cannot contest two elections. It is on record he contested the Presidency. Now he seats as Senate President to give us this kind of opinion. Such an irresponsible person must never be listened to”
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