Runner-Up Candidate’s Party in Nigeria’s Presidential Election Says Not Recognizing Result

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Nigeria, whose presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, the ex-vice president, came second in the presidential election, said on Thursday that it does not recognize the election results and demands that they be canceled.

On Wednesday, the candidate from Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress party and former governor of the southwestern state of Lagos, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was elected the new president of the country. Tinubu scored over 8.7 million votes, while Abubakar received over 6.9 million votes.

“The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on behalf of all members of the PDP, rejects in its entirely the declaration and return of the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinube, as President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),” the party said in a statement published on Twitter, adding that the party “demands that INEC immediately withdraws the Certificate of Return issued to the Presidential Candidate of the APC and cancel the Presidential election declaration in line with its powers.”

According to the party, the INEC “acted contrary” to the provisions of Nigeria’s constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and the INEC Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of the 2023 presidential election. The party claimed that the election “was marred by deliberate malpractices,” including the INEC’s refusal or failure to transmit the results from the polling units directly to the commission’s server and website, prompting the “alteration, falsification, switching of results and allocation of figures in favour of the APC.”

“The PDP holds that its Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar clearly won the February 25, 2023 Presidential election having evidently scored the majority of lawful votes cast by Nigerians ate the Polling Units,” the statement read.

Earlier in the day, another presidential candidate, Nigerian businessman Peter Obi who gained some 6.1 million votes, also announced his intention to challenge the election results in court.

The 2023 Nigerian presidential election took place on February 25. In connection with this procedure, the authorities closed the country’s land borders for two days.