There may be tension brewing among the supporters of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 election, as the Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO) have written the European Union (EU), and African Union (AU), begging them to prevent Atiku from challenging Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election victory in court.
According to the Daily Post, the BCO wrote separate letters to the heads of the EU and AU Observation Missions in Nigeria, noting that the international bodies must act fast to save Nigeria’s democracy from the former Vice President’s unfair decision to go to court despite reports from international observers that the February 23 polls were fair.
The letters, which were made available to Journalists, in Abuja, on Sunday, by the organisation’s Director of Communications and Strategic Planning, Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, claimed that Atiku ought to have congratulated President Buhari, instead of yielding to PDP’s politics of bitterness. They also pointed out that President Buhari’s humility in spite of being victorious was obvious in his appeal to his supporters not to humiliate the opposition was more than enough reason for Atiku to congratulate the President.
The BCO said: “We are writing to inform you of the undemocratic tendencies of the Presidential Candidate of the main opposition party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, who has chosen to take the Electoral process in Nigeria backwards, after a peaceful and credible Presidential and National Assembly elections, conducted penultimate Saturday. In spite of reports by Foreign Observers acknowledging the polls as free, fair and peaceful, the opposition party and its Candidate have chosen to discredit the entire process, and make the Observation Missions look as if they are biased in their assessment of the just concluded Presidential poll.
“Apart from blatantly refusing to congratulate the winner of the said poll, President Muhammadu Buhari, the PDP and its Candidate have taken the battle to court, apparently to cause distractions, with a view to slowing down the wheels of governance in the country. The PDP is still inciting the Nigerian public against the government of the day, irrespective of the fact that President Buhari had been magnanimous in victory. He has pledged to run an all-inclusive government, and has even urged us, his supporters, not to gloat or humiliate the opposition, an enjoinder we have adhered strictly to the letter.
“We deem it fit to draw your attention to this brazen attempt to frustrate the democratic process, hoping that, you will intervene by calling the PDP and its Presidential Candidate to order, and ensure that the tenets of democracy are adhered to, in the ongoing Electoral process in Nigeria. Atiku should follow former President Goodluck Jonathan’s example. Nobody’s life should be sacrificed for any Politician’s ambition. He should abide by the agreement signed by all Presidential Candidates, with the National Peace Committee, to accept the results of the just concluded Presidential poll in good faith. Nigeria has in the past, witnessed enough shedding of the blood of innocent Nigerians. If Atiku wants to help Nigerians, he should work with the Buhari-led government for a prosperous nation. He should not set Nigeria aflame, with his inordinate ambition and insatiable thirst for power.”
