Despite some shortcomings, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that Saturday’s elections for the national assembly and presidency were free and fair.
This was announced by President Buhari on Wednesday morning in a statement by the presidential representative, Garba Shehu.
The president stated, “there is no denying that the results we see today reflect the will of the people and that does not imply that the test was faultless. For instance, there were technical difficulties with the electronic transmission of the results.”
He went further to say, Undoubtedly, there will be some areas that need to be improved if the voting process is to become more transparent and credible. However, none of the issues raised endangers the impartiality or integrity of the elections.
“I am aware that some politicians and candidates may not share my opinion. That’s also okay. Bring the evidence forward if any candidate thinks they can back up the fraud they falsely claim was committed against them. If they cannot, we must conclude that the election was indeed the will of the people, no matter how difficult that may be for the losers to accept. If they feel the need to challenge, they should do so in court, not on the streets.”
The Chairman and Chief Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, declared the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the winner of Saturday’s Presidential election on Wednesday.
Tinubu defeated Atiku, a former vice president and his closest rival, by 1.8 million votes in the 2023 presidential election.
