The All Progressives Congress, APC, has described as ridiculous, the claim by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that he defeated President Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential election by 1.6 million votes.
Buhari is the APC candidate in the election and was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
But Atiku has claimed that the server of INEC indicated he defeated Buhari in the contest.
Reacting, APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Lanre Issa-Onilu, said Atiku’s claim was ridiculous.
His words: “However, of all the prayers of Atiku before the election tribunal, which are at best hollow, the most ridiculous is his claim that the server of the INEC indicated he won the presidential election by 1.6million votes.
“A few questions would suffice – is this phantom figure of 1.6 million votes Dubai-invented? Was the result sold to Atiku by his numerous marabouts, who we understand, had assured him that the last election was a done deal for him?”
He said the APC was conscious of PDP’s antics to discredit the presidential electoral process, acknowledged by local and international observers.
He said the party sympathised with Atiku for the “crushing defeat handed him by President Buhari through the votes of Nigerians.”
He said judging by Atiku and PDP’s recent utterances and actions, “it is now clear that they have slipped into severe depression and post-defeat hallucination that have left many Nigerians questioning their current state of mind.”
“After weeks of dilly-dallying, the PDP has woken up to the stark reality of its electoral defeat and decided to follow the constitutional path of filing a petition at the election tribunal,” he stated.
Issa-Onilu claimed that it was possible that PDP had plans to jeopardise INEC’s database, calling on security agencies to foil the “evil plan”.
“Most importantly, we note Atiku’s consistent reference to the INEC server as if he is the custodian of that platform. Indeed, Atiku’s constant reference to the INEC server should raise concerns as it is becoming apparent that he and the PDP are up for some dastard activities that are targeted at jeopardising the INEC database and internal storage system,” he said.
He added: “We recall the widespread reported cases of several programmed card readers that were retrieved from some PDP agents and their failed attempt to hack the INEC database in the lead up to the then postponed presidential election.
“We remind Atiku and PDP that Nigerians saw through the devious schemes aimed at thwarting their will. Consequently, majority of the voters handed them a harsh verdict — that verdict remains sacrosanct.”
