President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu faces a tough time ahead following the rejection of his victory in the February 25 presidential election by the top three presidential candidates.
Thus, following his declaration as winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, other presidential candidates have rejected the results on the basis that the election was flawed.
Apart from Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Labour Party, LP who rejected the results annunced by INEC, Rabiu Kwakwanso, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, candidate is also contesting the results claiming that the election was rigged.
Tinubu, many insist, understands the problem facing his presidency, the reason why he has assembled a team of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, to defend him when the legal fireworks begins at the courts.
With the NNPP candidate joining other candidates to oppose his victory, not a few insist that the lawyers representing Tinubu will have a lot on their plates at the tribunal down to the Supreme Court which has the final jurisdiction the issue.
A purported congratulatory message to the APC candidate and former governor of Lagos state by Kwakwanso, has somehow reduced the tension in the ruling party after it was accused of stealing victory, the decision of Kwakwanso to join the camp of those opposed to Tinubu’s victory, is no doubt an indication of what to expect before and his swearing in on May 29.
According to a statement by NNPP, debunking the suggestion that he has accepted the result, Kwakwanso said INEC declared Tinubu winner of the keenly contested election even though it is aware that the election was “grossly flawed, contentious and disputed.”
The statement said, “The report that Engineer Kwankwaso congratulated Tinubu was a figment of the fertile imagination of anti-democrats, political hirelings and fifth columnists leveraging the popularity of the party’s presidential flag-bearer.
“The NNPP rejects the outcome of the February 25, 2023 presidential election as it did not reflect the will, wish and mandate of Nigerians, who trooped out to vote but were disappointed by the failure of INEC to conduct a credible and transparent election and fulfill its promise to upload the polling units results to its portals, which would have guaranteed the authenticity of the results and declaration of the winner of the presidential election.
“Sadly, the presidential poll turned out to be a charade as it failed to meet the expectation of Nigerians and the international community. The NNPP was a target of these electoral robbers who want the status quo to remain, in place of the new and better Nigeria the party promised if voted into office.
“It is unthinkable that Kwankwaso would hastily congratulate Asiwaju Tinubu on his questionable mandate, which other candidates also claimed they won and have approached the court to seek redress. All lovers of democracy, due process and rule of law will wait for the determination of the election petitions in court.
“Until the court decides them one way or the other, it will be preposterous for NNPP, that was rigged out in most of its strongholds across the country, to concede defeat and congratulate INEC’s imposed ‘winner’.”
The NNPP said Nigerians have rejected the results considering their mood since Tinubu was declared winner.
On Monday, Tinubu employed 50 lawyers including Wole Olanipekun, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to defend him at the courts.
