The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has advised the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar to respect the verdict of Nigerians, as well as the position of International Observers on the just-concluded Presidential election.
According to the group, virtually all the countries and international bodies that sent representatives to observe the election are convinced that the outcome of the election reflects the wishes of majority of the Nigerian electorate.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, BMO said that all indications point to a President Muhammadu Buhari win, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“We recall that Atiku Abubakar tweeted just after addressing the media recently that the position of many international observers corroborated his view that the election was a sham.
“But Nigerians know by now that this is a fallacy as many international observers, including reputable locals, have released preliminary reports that are consistent with the outcome of the electoral process”, it said.
The pro-Buhari group added that nothing better captured the mindset of the International community on the election than the position of the UK Minister of State for Africa, Harriet Baldwin.
“We at BMO are satisfied that in the midst of PDP’s efforts to discredit the process, Britain, which had its representatives on ground as observers before and after the election, is emphatic that “the result declared by the Nigerian electoral commission is consistent with the result obtained through the civil society Parallel Vote Tabulation process.
“If this is not an endorsement of the process based on international best practices, we wonder what it is, especially at a time the opposition is fighting tooth and nail to smear the process as the ‘worst in thirty years.’”
The group also pointed at the position of a reputable observer group, Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) Africa which released a report that tallied with INEC’s result of the Presidential election.
“A comparison of INEC official results with YIAGA AFRICA #WatchingTheVote estimate, showed that what was announced by the Chief Returning Officer and INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu is consisting with field reports from 3,898 observers deployed across the country.
“In its post-election statement, the US and UK-backed group had validated President Buhari’s victory over his closest challenger on the basis of reports from 1,491 or 98.4 per cent of sampled polling units.
“YIAGA Africa’s findings showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) should receive between 50.0 per cent and 55.8 per cent of the vote; and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should receive between 41.2 per cent and 47.0 per cent of the vote.
“INEC’s result however showed that President Buhari scored 55.6 percent while Atiku Abubakar had 41.2 percent, so YIAGA’s position tallies with what was announced by Professor Yakubu at the National Collation Centre in Abuja.
“These figures are consistent with the official results as announced by INEC. For both APC and PDP, the official results fall within the PVT estimated ranges.”
BMO said if Atiku has any doubt about the veracity of YIAGA Africa’s position that President Buhari won fair and square, he should remember that its technical partners are the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI).