The Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Saturday night rejected a purported “fake” press release that claimed he was legitimising the February 25, 2023 presidential election. He said the release did not come from him or his office and should be repudiated as false, deliberately fabricated by those who “illegally appropriated the mandate of the Nigerian people.”
Atiku noted that various political parties, politicians, and both foreign and local election observers had condemned the violence, vote‑buying, and voter intimidation that marred the 2023 general elections. The PDP and the Labour Party have already petitioned the courts to address these irregularities and have rejected the election’s outcome.
In a signed statement, Atiku declared, “For the avoidance of any doubt, I wish to state categorically that my lawyers still have my unflinching mandate to challenge the outcome of the February 25 presidential election. I join other lovers of democracy in Nigeria and friends of our great country in the outright rejection of the pre‑determined outcome of the February 25 election.”
He affirmed that he will continue to contest the election’s legality alongside the PDP, emphasizing that the decision to challenge what he called “the sham election of February 25, the worst election in our democratic history,” is driven not by personal interest but by the interests of Nigeria and its people. “It is aimed at deepening democracy and ensuring that we do not confer legitimacy to an outcome of illegitimacy. My commitment to the democratic struggle in Nigeria is beyond an election season.”
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