By Khulile Thwala
Nigeria’s opposition leader Atiku Abubakar has kept his promise of strongly opposing the recent presidential elections results as he took to the streets of Abuja, Nigeria on Monday.
Abubakar, who came second in the February 25 presidential poll protested alongside his supporters to contest the election results. The electoral body of Nigeria last week declared Bola Tinubu of the Nigeria ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner to take over from President Muhammadu Buhari in May.
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Close to 25 million people cast ballots in a vote that was largely peaceful but marred with controversy and technical glitches, which angered voters and opposition parties who claimed massive vote-rigging.
Abubakar’s supporters and members of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were dressed in black to walk to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) headquarters in Abuja and submit a petition, claiming electoral fraud.
“INEC has direct involvement in aiding and abetting the monumental rigging and manipulation of the election results in favour of the ruling party,” said Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP chairman.
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According to a report by Africanews, the electoral commission has acknowledged technical difficulties on the day of the vote but rejects claims of fraud.
The Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who came in third in the election, has also rejected the results, and said he was going to court to prove to Nigerians he won the presidential race.
Running for the sixth time, Abubakar has not clearly stated if he is going to court, but he is consulting lawyers to decide the next line of action.
