Buhari rules out annulment of Nigeria’s presidential election

President Muhammadu Buhari has ruled out the annulment of the country’s presidential election despite allegations of widespread irregularities by opposition parties.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on March 1 declared Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 election after polling 8, 794, 726 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and 16 others in the exercise.

However, the duo of Atiku and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, had rejected the outcome of the election and vowed to challenge it in court.

The apex Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, and its South-East counterpart, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, had also rejected the results and insisted that Obi won the election.

In a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the president urged aggrieved candidates and their parties to approach the court for redress.

He described the calls for the annulment of the election as “wishful thinking.”

READ ALSO: Atiku counters Tinubu, gathers 19 SANs to challenge presidential election

The statement read: “Bola Tinubu’s election stands. If you are aggrieved, and you have the locus to do so, go to court.

“The wishful thinkers appeared to assume that the June 12, 1993 election crisis, the worst ever since the Civil War could be recreated.

“Those who sought to do this forgot what the President said at the palace of the Gbong-Gwon Jos when he went to the city to inaugurate the Tinubu-Shettima campaign: ‘this election will not be annulled; whoever is the winner will be president.

“The President dismissed criticisms of INEC as mere attempts to poison public opinions against the electoral umpire. He maintained to World leaders in Qatar that he would hand over to a new president on May 29, 2023.”

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