A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, under the auspices of Middle-Belt Pan Nigerian Forum, has urged the Labour Party candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, to respect the outcome of the 2023 Nigerian general elections and move on.
The coalition spoke in reaction to Obi’s repeated condemnation of the 2023 presidential election outcome.
He had on Saturday while reacting to South-Africa’s presidential election, said the last general election was plagued with fraud and widespread irregularities.
In a series of X posts, Obi wrote: “Nigeria’s 2023 election, with less than 30% of Voter turnout, over 60% of the polling stations starting late, and no diaspora voting, the elections were plagued by allegations of fraud and widespread irregularities, all forms of glitches, despite an enormous expenditure to the tune of about a billion dollars (direct allocation of =N=313 Billion and donor agencies support).
“With about 60% Voter turnout, over 90% of polling open on time, allowing diaspora voting, the results and updates were real-time without any form of technical glitches during the election.”
However, in a statement issued on Sunday by Dr. Danladi Ceceko, the group’s spokesperson, the coalition asserted that the election results, which saw the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), reflected the wishes of the Nigerian people.
“It is evident for all to see that the 2023 general elections, especially the presidential poll, were among the freest and most transparent in our history.
“The outcome, upheld by the Supreme Court, is a true representation of the will of Nigerians, and it is time for all participants to accept the results and move forward,” Ceceko said.
The coalition accused Obi of undermining the country’s institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Supreme Court.
It is quite unfortunate that Mr. Peter Obi would discredit our institutions like INEC and the Supreme Court, which validated the credible elections conducted by INEC,” he added.
Ceceko noted that if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was as problematic as some politicians had claimed, it raised the question of why there were calls from various quarters for the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to be disbanded and for INEC to conduct local government elections instead.
“Local government elections administered by SIECs are often fraught with irregularities and manipulation, according to these advocates.