Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the party is looking forward to meeting with the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar in court.
Aggrieved by the outcome of the presidential election, Atiku had described it as the worst in 30 years and vowed to challenge it.
But the APC chairman believes “from day 1, Atiku made up his mind that unless he wins, the election is not free and fair and it is only free and fair if he is returned as the candidate”.
He, therefore, stated that he is free to go to court.
“You cannot possibly deny anyone the right to challenge the outcome of an election however free and fair… like myself when I believed I was cheated out,” Oshiomhole said Wednesday during a briefing in Abuja.
“If you have cause to dispute the outcome of an election, the only lawful way open to you is to go to court.
“So, we hope and we are looking forward to meeting Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in court and the facts will be laid bare but if I might dare him, we might also choose to cross-petition.”
Speaking further, Oshiomhole criticised Atiku over his comments about investors pulling out of Nigeria following his loss, as well as other previous comments.
Months prior to the elections, the PDP candidate had said he would sell the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and also enrich his friends if he was elected.
But with a winning margin of 3.9 million votes against him, he maintained that when you calmly look at the numbers declared by the electoral umpire “they do not add up”.
He argued that “in Akwa-Ibom for instance, the results showed a statistical impossibility of a 62% drop in voter numbers from the 2015 elections even where voter registration and PVC collection rates were much higher than in 2015”, a pattern he said was repeated in strongholds of the PDP including in Delta, Rivers, Abia and Benue states.
In response, however, Oshiomhole believes that Atiku was never destined to be president, describing his comments as being fraught with arrogance.
“I think it also borders on arrogance for Atiku Abubakar to suggest that our future is tied to his presidency,” he said, adding that “Nigeria doesn’t need soft-hearted investors”.
With or without Atiku’s influence, the APC Chairman believes there are several investors genuinely interested in taking advantage of Nigeria’s huge potentials.
He said, “We need genuine investors who have faith in our country and who have long-term interest in our country.
“We want people who will invest in real production and in the labour intensive industry, not those who will play on our financial system and our foreign exchange regime to make money without a business address.
“If these are the kind of businessmen Atiku is talking about, we cannot but open the skies, let them fly back and they should never return.
“But I believe that the genuine investors who have businesses in Nigeria and genuine business address, who know the huge market potentials, a market of about 200 million people genuine service providers, genuine manufacturers cannot but look forward to coming to Nigeria to take advantage of our huge market”.
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