The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC) has denied claims by the opposition parties that the February 25 presidential election was manipulated and flawed with irregularities.
Recall that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) had rejected the outcome of the presidential election which saw Bola Tinubu emerge as the president-elect.
In a joint press conference held last week, the two opposition parties said the exercise was flawed with irregularities and the results of the election were rigged.
But in an interview on BBC’s Focus on Africa, the Special Adviser on Communications and Public Affairs to the APC PCC, Dele Alake, said the election was free, fair and credible and is the best election since 1999.
The APC chieftain added that the major complaint of the PDP and LP is that INEC did not upload the result to the server in rea time.
He, however, wondered that where the LP and PDP won, the election was okay but where they lost, the exercise was rigged.
He said: “As regards the allegation of the manipulation of the presidential election, the opposition parties are not correct.
“The major plank of their complaint is that INEC did not upload the result to the server in real-time.
“That is the major plank of their incredulous allegation but that is also not supported by law. I am taken aback that otherwise enlightened and educated people are not analysing this issue.
“The law does not mandate INEC to upload. It is not a compulsion, it is an option. Uploading or not uploading the result does not affect the validity of the result.
“Once results are declared at the various polling centres, the ballot is counted in the presence of all the voters, figures are tallied and the winner is announced, all the agents sign the result sheet, it is immaterial because it does not affect the validity of the results that have been announced publicly at every polling station. These people did not read the Electoral Act. It is not correct in law.
“It is non-compliance when you have only one option but when you have two options, the clause of non-compliance could be brought up.
“I am saying that since it is not the only available option to INEC, then, it cannot stand in court. They are just using propaganda and because it suits some people, they swallow it hook, line and sinker.
“In any case, there is no federal election, except that of Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, from 1960 till date that was not disputed in Nigeria. So, what is the difference between this one? None.
“They are just sore losers. Let us look at this scenario; this is the best election since 1999. If Bola Tinubu could rig elections, couldn’t he have rigged it in his home state?
“Where the Labour Party and PDP won, the election was okay but where they lost, there were irregularities. What kind of logic is that?”
© 2024 Naija News, a division of Polance Media Inc.
Ige Olugbenga is a fine-grained journalist. He loves the smell of a good lead and has a penchant for finding out something nobody else knows.
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