National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Iyorchia Ayu, and the party’s vice presidential candidate and Delta state Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, will Monday (today), lead a protest of party stakeholders to the national headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja
The protest, Blueprint gathered, was planned by party stakeholders to register their total displeasure on the outcome of the February 25 2023 presidential election, won by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement, Sunday, Director Administration of its presidential campaign organisation, Ambassador Ibrahim Bashir, directed all party stakeholders to wear a black dress and converge on its (PDP) office located at Maitama, Abuja.
The statement reads in part: “I am directed to respectfully invite Your Excellencies: The National Chairman, Dr Iyrochia Ayu, The Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Okowa, Governors of Akwa Ibom and Chairman of PCC, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, Sokoto state and DG of PCC, Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and Governors of Bayelsa, Edo, Adamawa, Bauchi, Taraba and Osun States; Former Senate Presidents, Senator David Mark and Senator Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, BOT members, NEC members, PDP Senators and House of Representatives Members, NWC members of the party, DDGs, Directors, Deputies and Assistant Directors of NCMC; Members of the PCC; Leadership of People Living With Disabilities and all other Stakeholders to a protest match to INEC Office as follows-
“Date: Monday, 6th March, 2023.Time: 10Am prompt; Dress Code Black and Take off point Legacy House, Maitama, Abuja. Endeavour to be very punctual please.”
In a related development, the PDP presidential candidate and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has described INEC’s promise to deliver credible governorship elections on March 11 as medicine after death.
Atiku, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said INEC’s promise was worthless and unconvincing.
Shaibu said: “…After promising to upload the results from polling units in real time, he allowed himself to be used, or he used himself in subverting the will of Nigerians. It will shock you to note that seven days since the election ended, the full results have still not been uploaded on INEC’s result viewing portal.
“The election was so bad that it failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians as restated by several foreign media outlets and observers as well as Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard of the US. Rather than apologies, the INEC chairman is trying to shift the blame.
“After INEC’s abysmal performance at the scam election of February 25, he is now trying to save face, insisting that errant staff would be punished and would not be deployed in the March 11 governorship poll. This is arrant nonsense. Is INEC planning on training new staff within five days that will replace the so-called errant ones? Is he going to recruit new staff or deploy some from outer space?”
US envoy on polls
Meanwhile, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, has identified the high and low points of the presidential elections.
The ambassador acknowledged that many were angry and frustrated with the results, while some others are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.
She, however, commended Nigerians for demonstrating their dedication to democracy.
The envoy made the position known Sunday in an op-ed- ‘The Elections of February 25,’ sent to Blueprint in Abuja.
She urged INEC to promptly address the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections and also undertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix them.
In addition, she urged INEC to share with the Nigerian public information about the actions it is taking.
She commended Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar for their commitment to take the legal path in contesting the presidential elections and also the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, for acknowledging their right to do so.
The statement partly reads: “The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.
“In the coming days, it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians not let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.”
Leonard also admitted that as much as it can be unsatisfying to end an electoral process in a courtroom, in a constitutional democracy bound by the rule of law, that is where electoral conflicts may appropriately conclude.
She noted that the Nigerian electoral landscape is ‘indisputably’ changing.
With respect to the results from the presidential and National Assembly polls, she noted that “more than half of the states – 20 – the winning candidate represented a different party than that of the incumbent governor. Twelve of these states are led by APC governors.
“For the first time, four presidential candidates won at least one state, and the top three each won 12 states based on these initial results.
“In the National Assembly elections, even with results still incomplete, we already know that changes are afoot: seven sitting governors lost in their attempts to win election to the Assembly; the Labor Party has won at least seven seats in the Senate; the NNPP has won at least 11 seats in the House of Representatives.”
She further assured that as “Nigeria goes through these next weeks and months, we stand with you.”
