The Presidential Campaign Council of the Labour Party made the call today February 27.
At a press briefing, Dr Akin Osuntokun, who is the Director-General of the Labour Party Campaign Council said President Buhari and the INEC chairman, Yakub Mahmood, had on several occasions come out to promise Nigerians a free and fair election with the passage of the new Electoral Act but that what has become glaring is that none of these promises has been kept.
Osuntokun stated that all promises about deploying a fail-safe system anchored on BVAS were broken as the internet and social media are awash with videos and photographic pieces of evidence of the pervasive violence and attacks that were visited on Nigerians during the elections, adding that some attacks were still ongoing across the country.
He said that there are numerous evidence of collusion between INEC and the security forces to subvert the will of the people, stressing that INEC’s guidelines on the conduct of the elections were extensively breached, and INEC has evidently been very reluctant to make the necessary adjustment to remedy the situation.
‘’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.”he said
Osuntokun added that the party is calling on the international community to walk their talk in Nigeria and cease to condone the “multiple evils” being perpetrated in the country by the rulers of Nigeria.
‘’There cannot be one standard for Nigeria and another for the rest of the world. ‘’ he said
Osuntokun thanked Nigerians for their support for its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and assured their supporters that their mandates shall not be surrendered to a desperate gaggle of failed rulers, who have brought nothing but ruination on our dear country.
The party urged Nigerians to remain peaceful and law-abiding.