FG replies LP, PDP, insists ‘opposition’s loss in the 2023 elections was incontrovertible’

Following retorts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) over claims by President Muhammadu Buhari, last Thursday, that opposition parties in the country lost the 2023 general elections because of ‘over-confidence and over-reliance on foreign media report’, among others, the Federal Government has fired back, as it insisted that they lost the just-concluded polls for the same reasons as stated by the President.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who made the discloseure, Sunday, in a statement, however, advised the losers to ‘stop their endless griping over the 2023 presidential election which they lost woefully,’ saying they know very well that they deserve to lose the election because of their overconfidence and complacency.

This is just as the minister cautioned opposition elements to stop misleading the global community over ‘the election they lost hands down,’ adding that ‘Mr President’s analysis of the reasons for the opposition’s loss in the 2023 elections was incontrovertible.’

Last Friday, while responding to a statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari, made, Thursday, where he claimed that opposition political parties lost the 2023 elections because of over-confidence, over-reliance on foreign media, complacency, and bad tactics, the Labour Party (LP) accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party of rigging its way into power.

A statement released, Friday, by the Labour Party, which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had adjudged to have finished third with over six million votes, in the February 25 presidential election via its candidate, Peter Obi, stated that the party lost the election due to the fact that the President’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) colluded with the electoral commission to rig the 2023 polls.

It would be recalled that President Buhari, in a statement issued, Thursday, by his Media and Publicity adviser, Garba Shehu, had stated that ‘overconfidence, complacency and bad tactical moves created problems for the opposition in the election.’

Labour Party, in response, however, slammed the President for the statement, insisting that the presidential election ‘was manipulated and rigged beyond comprehension.’

According to LP, ‘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 Friday statement read.

“So political parties didn’t lose the election because of overconfidence or complacency as proffered by Mr. President; APC in collaboration with the various government agencies simply rigged the election and rigged themselves into power,” the Labour Party said.

LP in the statement signed by its Acting National Secretary, Obiorah Ifoh, further reminded Buhari  of ‘the magnitude of violence, ballot snuffing, snatching and manipulations of results 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.’

“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 Friday statement read.

It further claimed the “current APC president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu 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 the election because of overconfidence 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 results 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.

“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.

“The 2023 general election is the worst election the country 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 the First and Second Republics where political thugs, where violence and thuggery characterised politics and elections.

“So Mr. President is completely wrong. I believe that he was ill-advised. It was erroneous for him to say that opposition parties lost the election because of overconfidence. 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,” the statement read.

However, responding to the LP claims, Sunday, the minister said Bu’hari deserves nothing but accolades for delivering undoubtedly the best election in Nigeria’s history,’ adding that ‘the tempestuous but predictable reaction to the President’s comments by the opposition has shown them for what they are: shameless sore losers.’

”President Muhammadu Buhari lived up to his billing by delivering a free, fair and credible election, and his legacy is assured. The President would rather lose his state and many of his party’s strongholds than tamper with the fidelity of the election, and that is why he provided a level playing field for all parties,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

The Minister said the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, won the presidential election fair and square, clinching the majority of the votes cast and surpassing the constitutionally-stipulated 25% of votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

”Going by the results, none of the opposition parties met any of the conditions stipulated for winning the presidential election. They didn’t even come close, despite their pre-election grandstanding.

”They (the opposition) keep leaning on some international observers to justify their fraudulent claim that the election was rigged. They conveniently forgot what Ambassador Johnnie Carson, the revered US diplomat who co-led the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI) International Election Observation Mission to Nigeria said: that the APC candidate undoubtedly won the polls.

”They also forgot that the African Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria said the atmosphere was generally calm and peaceful in 95% of the polling units visited,” he said, adding that it is on the strength of these reports that many nations, including the US and the UK, wasted no time in congratulating the victorious APC Presidential Candidate.

Mohammed slammed the opposition ‘for continuously seeking to mislead the world by clutching at the weak straw that results were not immediately uploaded onto the IReV Portal, as if the portal has any role to play in the collation of results.’

”The opposition’s insinuation that the failure to immediately upload the result of the presidential election onto IReV affected the credibility of the election is a fraud. It is an act of blackmail and deceit by desperate individuals.

”The opposition Labour Party, in particular, will go down in the history books as the first-ever distant third-place finisher in a presidential election anywhere to have bold-facedly claimed victory,” he said.