Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Buhari goes to court

On April 21, 2011 ·
By EMMANUEL AZIKEN, Political Editor & CHARLES KUMOLU
ABUJA—THE Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, is to challenge results of the presidential elections in the tribunal on the basis of alleged suppression of his votes and inflation of those of the declared winner, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.


Buhari
Declaring his decision to challenge the results and reclaim what he claimed yesterday as his mandate, Buhari equally appealed to aggrieved supporters not to join the ranks of those he described as miscreants engaged in rioting and burning of worship places. He said that the burning down of places of worship was itself worse than rigging even as he called on aggrieved supporters not to burn their voters’ cards.
The resort to the court is based on what the Buhari campaign claimed, yesterday, as the preposterous return in some States where the vote cast was more than the registered number of voters. The Buhari campaign equally claimed that its votes were systematically suppressed by the computer programme of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Appealing for calm from supporters on the basis of ongoing moves to recover what he claimed was a stolen mandate, Buhari said in a statement issued on hisbehalf by his spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin yesterday:
“We have commenced consultations at the highest levels to recover your stolen mandate. I would, therefore, urge you to continue to be patient.”
Buhari had during the 2011 campaign claimed that he would not go to court after his efforts to reverse the losses in 2003 and 2007 were rejected by the courts.
Odumakin told Vanguard that the legal challenge would be launched by the party and not Buhari who was the candidate in the election.
Calling for calm from supporters Buhari said: “As I pointed out in my earlier address to you, it is wrong for you to allow miscreants to infiltrate your ranks and perpetrate such dastardly acts as the mindless destruction of worship places. Needless to say, this act is worse than the rigging of the elections.
“Information has reached me that, out of frustration, some of you have been destroying your voter’s cards. This is a very grievous mistake, which is not going to solve any of your problems. I urge you to preserve and safeguard your cards, and come out en-masse on Tuesday to vote out and disgrace your oppressors who have stolen your votes. If you don’t do this, it is to be feared that all your efforts will have been in vain.”
Controversy trails SNG’s endorsement of Jonathan
*They are impostors – Bakare
Meanwhile controversy trailed the positive endorsement of the 2011 presidential election by elements purportedly from the Save Nigeria Group, SNG, an organization convened by Pastor Tunde Bakare the vice-presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, candidate.
The group had in a statement, yesterday, commended the organization of the presidential election which it said was a significant improvement on the conduct of the April 9 National Assembly election. The group congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan on his emergence and equally condemned the resort to violence in certain sections of the country.
The signatories were immediately disowned by Bakare who told Vanguard that the signatories were impostors.
Bakare said: “They are impostors. Ask them where is their certificate of incorporation. I don’t know the group. Save Nigeria Group has not issued any statement. That is not Save Nigeria Group that I convened.
That is not our group, they are impostors and they, at best they cant stand on their own and they have to look for somebody else’s name to use. Ask them to produce their certificate of incorporation if they have any.”

 vanguardngr.com/2011/04/buhari-goes-to-court/

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