2023: LP Tackles Buhari, Insists APC Stole Its Mandate

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

The Labour Party (LP) has lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari over a statement the party described as distortion of facts and standing truth on its head.

This is even as the party insisted that it won the February 25 presidential election as against the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). 

President Buhari had in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said, “that the opposition parties lost the 2023 presidential election because of their “overconfidence, complacency and bad tactical moves, and which he claimed created more problems for them.”

The President further asserted that “while the APC was working hard to retain power in the recent elections, the combined opposition was busy telling their foreign backers that they would defeat the APC.”

But in a swift reaction yesterday, the Labour Party, in a statement issued by the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the Abure-led NWC, Obiorah Ifoh, carpeted Buhari’s position, insisting that the party won the last presidential election but its mandate was stolen.

He said: “We want to point it out clearly to President Muhammadu Buhari that his position on the outcome of the said election was false, untrue, and it is not a true reflection of what played out during the election.

“There are several reasons why opposition political parties lost the 2023 election; the first is that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC snubbed the electoral act wherein it failed to upload the result from the polling unit in real time as promised and in disregard to the laws guiding the election. The INEC, by so doing, created room for that election to be rigged.”

The Labour Party said Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not win the last presidential election and hence should not be parading himself as the President-elect.

“APC’s presidential candidate didn’t win the election, because the said election, particularly, the presidential election was manipulated and rigged beyond comprehension. So political parties didn’t lose election because of over confidence or complacency as proffered by Mr. President, APC in collaboration with the various government agencies simply rigged the election and rigged themselves into power.

“Let me remind Mr. President of the magnitude of violence, ballot snuffing, snatching and manipulations of result from the collation centres using security agencies, which included police, army amongst others as well as thugs to manipulate elections in favour of the ruling party.”

The statement also described the controversies that trailed the Adamawa State governorship election as a fraction of the overall brigandage, shenanigan and outright subversion of the people’s will, as perpetrated by the ruling All Progressives Congress, INEC and its cronies, manning sensitive government institutions.

“Recently, we saw the show of shame that took place in Adamawa. What played out in Adamawa was a microcosm of what played out in all over the states during February 25 and March 18 elections in Nigeria. Why the case of Adamawa was given huge publicity and attention was because of the involvement of an INEC national commissioner who was a victim, thus forcing INEC to take  prompt action. From Lagos to Rivers, from North to Southern parts of the country, all over, violence characterised that election. In most cases, some agents and supporters were not allowed access to the polling units.

“All of these put together, do they amount to overconfidence and complacency on the part of the opposition party? It shows that the President who promised Nigerians that he was going to give Nigerians a free, fair and credible election simply failed in his duty in giving Nigerians the election they deserved.”

It described the last 2023 general election as the worst in the history of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, saying the election was marred by violence, perpetrated by APC’s henchmen. The party submitted that President Buhari’s handlers brazenly misled him by selling tissues of lies to him to suite their sinister agenda 

“The 2023 general election is the worst election the country has ever had since the current republic; since 1999 to date. The 2023 general election is the worst ever as reported by virtually all the international observers and communities. In fact, the election took Nigeria back to the days of First and Second republics where political thugs, where violence and thuggery characterised politics and election. 

“So Mr. President is completely wrong. I believe that he was ill advised. It was erroneous for him to say that opposition parties lost election because of over confidence. In fact, Labour Party won the election but it was brazenly stolen by APC. Mr. President is aware of the fact that APC did not win the election and that it was stolen.”