Press Release: Red Card Movement(RCM) Supports Atiku’s Decision To Reject The Presidential Election Result As Announced by INEC and Commends His Resolve to Reclaim The Stolen Mandate Through The Courts as Against The Streets.
Sequel to the just concluded presidential election held on Saturday, 23rd of February, 2019 which saw the declaration of the results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in favour of the incumbent president, Mohammadu Buhari, we wish to make the following salient points :
1. Bad Governance and Irresponsible Leadership.
As the most prominent citizens movement in Nigeria, we reaffirm our position that the Buhari led @officialAPCNg regime has delivered bad governance and irresponsible leadership, from all empirical data and street evidence. This regime’s fight against corruption is obviously SELECTIVE, and the NEPOTISTIC appointments do not reflect that of a president that is serious about fight against corruption.
The recorded number of deaths, abductions, kidnappings, and suicide bombings by the Boko Haram sect, and the terrorist attacks by the Fulani Herdsmen across the nation, under this very regime, lends credence to the fact that the INSECURITY level of Nigeria is very high. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 CFRN (as amended) states, “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of the government.”
Also, empirical data on EXTREME POVERTY and UNEMPLOYMENT statistics are a confirmation that our economy is in very bad shape. Therefore, supporting Buhari’s re-election will be reinforcing failure. Our RED CARD to the present regime is sustained because of failure to deliver on ALL campaign promises!
2. Pre-election Endorsement of Atiku Abubakar.
We still stand by our pre-election endorsement of HE Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the most pragmatic choice to dislodge the Buhari presidency at the poll. He remains our candidate for the 2019 presidential election. This position is unchangeable, no matter the final outcome of election as will be decided by the Supreme Court.
3. Unfairness and Non-credibility of Conducted Elections.
We agree with HE Alhaji Atiku Abubarka that the presidential election on February 23, 2019 was not free, fair or anything close to credible. Our members discreetly observed the election process across the federation and noticed a lot of electoral violence by members of the ruling party, militarization of the election to the extent that voters and observers were threatened and unable to exercise their franchise. The February 23 election can easily pass as the worst conducted election in Nigeria since the return of democracy in 1999.
4. Harrassment of Supporters of the Opposition Candidate.
We condemn the arrest of supporters of the opposition candidate such as that of Engr. Buba Galadima. We demand that based on his recent release, that the government desists from further harrassing him, including other ardent supporters of the opposition party. Other supporters of the opposition that are still being detained should also be released unconditionally.
We urge that the security agencies bring action against those who unleashed violence, snatching of ballot boxes and burning of ballot papers in Lagos, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo state et al.
There must be fairness, equity and justice as stipulated by The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Article 21 that “the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot or by equivalent free voting procedures.”
Surprisingly, there is no concrete step taken by the security agencies on a prominent member of APC that moved bullion vans and private jets loaded with cash around the election period, in clear violation of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
5. Disrespect for the Rule of Law.
The rule of law is unambiguously enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution in (S.1 (1), Chapter 1, Part 1, 1999) to establish that “Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. This means that no man or official is above the laws of the constitution, no person or institution (presidential office included) is above the law.
The blatant disrespect shown to this constitutional provision by the President is surprising in his unconstitutional suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen over nebulous charges.
From the backdrop of several cases of unjustifiable arrests, unfair trials, executive lawlessness, suppression of free speech and undue domination of minorities, the Buhari-led regime has become sybaritic in their conscious reduction of the concept of the rule of law to a mere constitutional myth and never a reality that it was intended to be.
Examples of cases are the illegal detainment of erstwhile National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, and the leader of Shiites Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, to mention a few.
6. Rejection of Election Results Announced by INEC.
We salute the courage of HE Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for his decision to reject the result as announced by INEC and his option to use the courts to reclaim his stolen mandate. He is indeed a true democrat.
RCM stands for good governance and responsible leadership. Therefore, we cannot look away while the rights and freedom of citizens in choosing their leaders are being taken away from them.
We shall work with other lovers of democracy to resist any attempt by the government in power to remain in power by rigging the 2019 election. If other citizens decide to tolerate the rigging of an election and stealing of the people’s mandate, the RED CARD MOVEMENT will not be silent on this.
If we remain silent to this injustice, then we may be preparing the ground for the amendment of our constitution to herald a life president. God forbid!
7. Sufficient Evidence to Prove Unfairness of the Election.
We are in full support of the decision of the presidential candidate of PDP to seek redress in court. We are aware of some citizens and foreigners putting a lot of pressure on HE Alhaji Atiku Abubakar not to take this vital step. We urge him to reject such pleas.
There are enough evidences to prove that the presidential election was neither free nor fair. Neither was it credible. Hence, going to court is better than going to the streets.
Conclusion.
Beyond reasonable doubt, the February 23 presidential election was indeed a sham that was marked by deliberate militarization of the process, vote suppression, intimidation of voters/observers and the collaboration of security agencies, INEC and the ruling party to subvert the will of Nigerians.
We hereby urge our members and all Nigerians to be calm and peaceful, as we trust the judiciary to restore the mandate of the people.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Signed:
Dr. Tony Akabuno
Co-chair, Red Card Movement.
