Elections: People’s will must not be subverted, says Atiku

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has asked Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure the immediate uploading of election results.

Abubakar said in a statement by Paul Ibe, his media adviser, that all election results must be immediately uploaded from the polling units to ensure that people’s will is not subverted.

The former vice-president said the INEC chairman should “instruct collation officers for yesterday’s election to upload the results from the polling units to the INEC server immediately”.

Abubakar said this has become necessary to checkmate some governors who are trying to compromise the results at the local government collation level and to ensure that the will of the people is through the ballot is not subverted.

“It will be a disservice to Nigerians and a negation to democracy for anyone to subvert the will of the people as freely expressed in their votes of yesterday,” he said.

He asked Nigerians to be calm but vigilant to ensure that “anti-democratic elements who are masquerading as progressives do not steal their mandate”.

Abubakar expressed gratitude to Nigerians for their support promising to continue to work hard to earn their trust and confidence.

“We are humbled and honoured by the early projections, which indicate that the Nigerian people have seen in Atiku Abubakar the kind of leader that they want to lead them into a brighter future,” he said.

Abubakar said while it is still too early to predict the final outcome of the elections, his early success has certainly put him in a strong position as the race enters its final stages.

“From the current figures that are available, Atiku is winning in many states in the 6 geo-political zones. We urge our members and party agents to remain steadfast and watchful,” he added.