The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has said that the outcome of February 25 election remains illegitimate.
The PDP candidate who described the election as the worst in Nigeria’s democratic history, said his lawyers still had his unflinching mandate to challenge the outcome of the poll at the Election Petitions Tribunal.
Atiku, a former Vice President of Nigeria, stated this on Saturday while debunking what he called a fake press release attributed to him and purportedly giving legitimacy to what he described as a widely rigged presidential election of February 25.
Atiku, in a statement he personally signed, said the so-called press release did not emanate from him or his office, and it should be treated with repudiation as it’s untrue, and deliberately contrived by those who illegally appropriated the mandate of the Nigerian people.
He said, “For the avoidance of any doubt, I wish to state categorically that my lawyers still have my unflinching mandate to challenge the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
“I join other lovers of democracy in Nigeria and friends of our great country in the outright rejection of the predetermined outcome of the February 25 election.
“I shall continue to challenge the legality of that election, alongside my party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
“The decision to challenge the sham election of February 25, the worst election in our democratic history, is not predicated on my personal interest but for the interest of Nigeria and its people. It is aimed at deepening democracy and ensuring that we do not confer legitimacy to an outcome of illegitimacy.
“My commitment to the democratic struggle in Nigeria is beyond an election season.”
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