National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu has tackled the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party LP, Mr Peter Obi for faulting the outcome of last Saturday’s Presidential election which returned the APC standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as winner.
At a news conference Thursday in Abuja, Adamu who was flanked by members of the APC National Working Committee NWC said for a party which won Lagos, Tinubu’s stronghold, it would be out of place to now turn round to condemn the proceed because it did not win across the country.
Adamu also accused the Peoples Democratic Party PDP and LP of having a diabolic desperation for power and attempting to truncate the nation’s democracy.
He said; “It is the nature of things. You win some, you lose some and the fact that we lost some major states like Lagos, Kano, Katsina and even Nasarawa, Kaduna. You cannot be talking about democracy, about evenness of representation and at the same time looking for or saying you must win everything.
“The fact that we lost these places and we didn’t shed tears, we did not cry foul, makes us the real political party in this country.
“What moral justification is there for a party that won Lagos and felt it was a good game, then loses a place like Ekiti, and they said the game is a bad one? It doesn’t make sense.
“With the strategic position of Lagos, strategic in terms of location, population in terms of economy in terms of political history and prestige, we lost and we didn’t run the streets crying, but what is important is we got what we want, we got the presidency.
“They are gnashing their teeth, you can all see, its shows the level of immaturity, selfishness and lack of sense of judgment. And to put it in common parlance, we are not sportsmen nor are they lovable women. Those who are grateful for the blessings of God, God promises to multiply their fortunes”, he stated.
Diabolic desperation
Adamu also condemned the PDP and LP for staking a walkout midway into the final collation of the Presidential election results.
He said; “I would be remiss if I fail to condemn in the strongest possible terms the shameful conduct of the leadership of PDP and the Labour Party in their unwarranted attempts to sabotage the elections and throw the country into chaos and avoidable crisis. It is a pity that they take their loss so badly. They ought to be good sportsmen and women in the political arena.
“Their protest walk out from the collation centre was childish but clearly a calculated attempt to rubbish the elections and impugn the integrity of the electoral umpire. Their call for the cancellation of the elections over their unproven allegations of electoral fraud must be the height of diabolical desperation. All patriotic citizens of this country who value peace and unity of purpose must rise with one voice to condemn these elements who want to parade themselves in the public space as the guardians of our electoral system.
“Aided by some self-appointed guardians of our nation’s conscience, they wanted to turn the victory of our party into ashes in the mouths of all Nigerians and set the country up for global opprobrium. It is condemnable and unpatriotic and unworthy of men who ought to recognise that in a democracy respect for the right of the people to freely choose their leaders through an election is the fundamental pillar of that form of government. Nothing in our laws and the constitution gives aggrieved individuals and groups the right to abort the unequivocal choices freely made by the people in their wisdom. Power belongs to the people and the people must be allowed to exercise it in the best way they choose in instituting the government of their choice.
“Our laws provide channels for the redress of electoral grievances. We urge those who feel aggrieves to avail themselves of those channels to seek redress. To set the house on fire in pursuit of a rat is not an act of courage or patriotism. It stands condemnable.
“We are happy to see that the people have seen through their unpatriotic antics and rejected their attempts to set the country on fire. We commend the highly placed and patriotic former public officers who instantly rose up in defence of the conduct of the elections and the election results and condemned the saboteurs. They have once more risen to the challenge of saving our nation from a needless crisis. We salute them. We must learn to be good losers, not bad losers. It is the hallmark of good citizenship”, he added.
Adamu also hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC who he said worked under a dark cloud of sabotage to deliver on its mandate.
*The victory belongs to the security agencies who put their lives on the line and ensured the peaceful conduct of the election at all levels. It belongs to all Nigerians who collectively showed a determination to birth a new national leadership. It belongs especially to the chairman and the members of INEC.
“They laboured under a dark cloud of sabotage. INEC offices were torched in several states; its personnel were similarly attacked but Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the man who has done more than anyone else in that difficult office refused to be intimidated and be deflected from doing his duty to his country and his compatriots. Committed as he and the members of the commission were to free, fair, transparent, and credible elections, they found sustenance in the courage to serve the nation and its people and help the people institute a government of their choice. Our nation must remain grateful to them”, he stated.
