The Labour Party (LP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of murdering sleep by rigging last February’s presidential election and would have to live with consequences of the action.
The party spoke just as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also accused the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of trying to blackmail and bully the Judiciary to endorse the allegedly rigged position that the APC candidate and President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, won the election.
The main opposition party insists, in a statement by Hon. Debo Ologunagba, itd spokesman, that its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, clearly won the election as shown from the actual votes cast at the Polling Units across the country.
In a statement targeted at recent comments by President Muhammadu Buhari and Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party describes “the subjudice claims … Lai Mohammed, that the opposition lost the election, as yet another in the series of attempts by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Executive to bully and blackmail the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
The party adds: “Nigerians are invited to note that Lai Mohammed’s comment is coming after President Muhammadu Buhari made similar subjudice comment in his widely condemned attempt to justify the rigging of the Presidential election, which case is pending before the Tribunal.
“It is indeed appalling that Lai Mohammed could attempt to defend the outcome of a fraudulently conducted election which has been adjudged as the worst in the history of elections in Nigeria and which has attracted nationwide and international outrage against the Buhari administration.
“By stating that President Buhari deserved “accolades” for conducting a globally condemned Presidential election and describing well-meaning Nigerians as “shameless sore losers”, Lai Mohammed has further confirmed the complicity of the Buhari administration, in which he serves as mouthpiece, in one of the most reprehensible election swindles in the history of democracy.
“The PDP is however not surprised that Lai Mohammed will continue in the trajectory of the Buhari-led APC administration which is notorious for lying, deceit and falsehood.
“Nigerians are aware that by the authentic results obtained from the Polling Units, Atiku Abubakar and not the APC candidate met all the conditions stipulated for the winning of Presidential election; the reason the compromised Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused to transmit directly and announce results as obtained from the Polling Units as required by law.
“The PDP for the umpteenth time cautions the APC and the Buhari-led Federal Executive against its furtive attempts to bully the judiciary in the handling of the Presidential election petitions pending before the Tribunal.
“The facts of the rigging of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election are well known to Nigerians and the PDP will not relent until it reclaims its mandate at the Tribunal.
On its part, the LP, in a statement by its spokesman, Obiora Ifoh, noted that a few days after President Muhammadu Buhari made his “heavily flawed and erroneous remarks on the outcome of the 2023 presidential election where he claimed that the opposition parties lost the presidential election due to their “overconfidence, complacency and bad tactical moves”, it was hearth-wrenching to hear the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, still progressing with that warped, illogical and incongruous concept.
The party adds: “We would rather not join issues with a man who is famous for constantly prescribing doses of expired and ineffectual propaganda to Nigerians. His ill-fated and hugely failed trip to United Kingdom and United States where he attempted to redeem the grossly battered democratic credentials of this present administration; spending millions of tax payers money to defend an indefensible action is yet another tragedy of President Buhari’s 8 years leadership.
“It is only the blind that will continue to insist that the 2023 presidential election which was massively rigged was free, fair and credible. As we have said earlier, the opposition political parties lost the election because the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC jettisoned the electoral act, having not uploaded the result from the polling unit in real time as promised and in so doing, created room for riggers to have a field day. The election witnessed unprecedented magnitude of violence, ballot snuffing, snatching and manipulations of result from the collation centres using thugs, security agencies, which included police, army amongst others.
“All these issues and a lot more were captured, well documented and have been taken to the appeal tribunal and the matters are on going. Mr. Lai Mohammed need not preempt the tribunal as his actions are contemptuous and could be used against him.
“We just want the honourable Minister to know that by rigging the 2023 general election, himself, his party, All Progressives Congress and the leader of the party, President Buhari have murdered sleep and they do not deserve peace.”