- Calls for calm, peace
BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has called on his supporters popularly called Obidients all over the country to remain calm and maintain peace and not to take the laws into their hands as the party works towards reclaiming its mandate given to him and his running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed in the February 25 presidential election.
Speaking during a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the party’s Vice Presidential candidate, Baba-Ahmed, who represented his principal said “It is our position that the purported result did not meet the minimum criteria of a transparent, free and fair election. In addition to the most condemnable attacks, violence, voter intimidation and suppression, the election was conducted in clear violation of agreed and promised INEC rules and guidelines, the Electoral Act 2022 and indeed the Nigerian Constitution. As evident, the institutions of the State and leaders that were supposed to ensure the sanctity of the election, again and as in the past collaborated and colluded to subvert the will of the good people of Nigeria.
“Please be assured of our determination to fight the injustice that have been perpetrated on Nigerians through all legal and peaceful means. While painful, we implore you to please remain peaceful and calm. As our fight and determination for a New Nigeria is just beginning, we equally encourage you all to continue with the campaigns and vote massively for Labour Party in the forthcoming governorship and states house of Assembly election on Saturday 11th March 2023. Our Principal, His Excellency Mr Peter Obi will in due course speak to you all and indeed the Nation.”
Yusuf Baba-Ahmed asked Nigerians to continue to exercise their civic duties saying Democracy belongs to the people who can practice it. He added that Nigeria should continue to make effort to practice it.
“The only language we understand is peace. Obi and I believe even more in Nigeria and Nigerian people. We won election in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, they refused to upload the result, they refused to refer to IReV just for them to defeat us. It took a serving government illegality and constitutional breech to defeat Peter Obi and my humble self. Nigerian people are winners and Nigerian people are waiting for a day when Peter Obi and myself, through the rigours of legality and constitutionality will get to power somehow, one day.”
Whether they have confidence in the judiciary, Datti said, “Irrespective of the low level of confidence we have in the system, your responsibility is your responsibility. Nigerians contested for the 2023 Presidential election through Peter Obi and my humble self, we shall continue to keep the struggle alive irrespective of the low confidence level we have in the judiciary.
“We had extremely low confidence on the promise of the government concerning the election yet we went ahead with the election. So it doesn’t matter how low the confidence level we have in the judiciary but the law is the law.
“But there is a confidence we have in ourselves. The confidence we have in ourselves is that the election so to say, did not hold because from the polling unit, the electoral act 2022 provided the direct transmission of result.
“It is that direct transmission that shows that elections were held and they were not transmitted. So if there were not results, what election are you talking about. Going to the ward collation units, no INEC officer shall make entries without he or she making reference to the existing ongoing concurrent IReV which did not exist. So, how did they collate. If there is no valid collation, what result are you talking about, if there are no results what election
