MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
Nigeria’s main opposition party on Thursday said it intends to challenge the results of the Feb. 25 presidential election in court.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) denounced the results as a “grave injustice.”
PDP’s Atiku Abubakar came second in the race for president with an official vote tally of 6.9 million, well behind Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party, who garnered 8.7 million votes.
Labor Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi finished with 6.1 million, according to the official count.
“This grave injustice shall not stand. The battle to retrieve our stolen mandate is a battle of no retreat, no surrender. We shall overcome,” Dino Melaye, a PDP spokesman, told Anadolu.
He said the PDP received credible reports of “ballot snatching, over-voting, and other election malpractices in all parts of the country.”
“We’re going to court because our mandate was stolen,” he said.
Earlier this week, opposition party leaders walked out of the main election center in the capital Abuja, accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of violating electoral laws.
“We’ve lost faith in the electoral process. We are no longer participating in the collation because the INEC has failed to upload the results … for all to see,” said Julius Abure, chairman of the LP.
Tinubu, 70, will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari as the leader of Africa’s largest democracy and economy.
He has taken a conciliatory approach after his win, appealing for unity.
“There are divisions amongst us that should not exist. Many people are uncertain, angry and hurt. I reach out to every one of you. Let the better aspects of our humanity step forward at this fateful moment. Let us begin to heal and bring calm to our nation,” he said in his victory speech on Wednesday.
