The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has refuted the claim that he had congratulated President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, after his victory at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday.
Disclosing this in a statement by his Media Aide, Paul Ibe, Atiku said he could not have validated an alleged electoral banditry, noting that doing so, would have amounted to a rape on the conscience of Nigerians who have struggled for years to implant electoral integrity.
According to him, they need not blackmail the opponents into a fake congratulatory message if they are sure of the victory being handed to them.
“If their conscience is clear and they are convinced that their victory is valid, they don’t have to blackmail their political opponents into congratulating them through fake news.
“Why should a man be desperate for validation? Does truth require validation? Why should you issue a congratulatory statement and attribute it to Atiku if your conscience is not troubled by the electoral heist you have perpetrated? Atiku asked.
Speaking in contradiction to the fake news being circulated by alleged Tinubu propagandists, the PDP flag bearer said he had directed his lawyers to proceed to the Supreme Court and challenge the judgement of the election petition tribunal.
Alleging that the purported message is fake and pedestrian, Atiku said Tinubu was addressed as the “President-elect.”
“Though we know it is a pyrrhic victory, is it not ridiculous to still address Bola Tinubu as “President-elect” five months after swearing-in?
“This struggle is not about Atiku; it’s about Nigeria and the future of our democracy. By allowing election riggers to get away with their misdeeds, our democracy will be in greater jeopardy. Consent is essential to democratic mandate; ruling people against their will undermines everything democracy stands for,” he added.
