Politically sponsored and unwarranted riots have allegedly broken out in parts of Northern Nigeria over last Saturday’s Presidential election which found Goodluck Jonathan of the oil wealthy region winning in his home South South, South West and South East but securing the mandatory 25 percent in the North while Mohammadu Buhari, ex-military dictator from the desert north unable to contain his loses have resorted to unleashing terror on his Muslim brothers and sisters who voted for Jonathan and calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the polls credited as best after 1993.
President Jonathan has however, called on political leaders and contestants to tell their supporters to shun violence in the interest of stability, peace and well being of this great country, saying that “We must not allow for the loss of any life as no one’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian”.
But Buhari’s party leadership has alleged electoral manipulation in South South, South East and other parts of the country.
Jonathan’s appeal to Nigerians:
“My Dear Countrymen and Women, I have received with great sadness the news of sporadic unrest in some parts of the country which are not unconnected with last Saturday’s elections. I appeal to those involved to stop this unnecessary and avoidable conduct, more so at this point in time when a lot of sacrifice has been made by all the citizens of this great country in ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections.
All of us are further encouraged by the comments of the independent election monitors and observers both domestic and international on how transparent and credible the elections have been so far.
Therefore, it is with the deepest sense of responsibility that I call on all our political leaders especially the contestants to appeal to their supporters to stop further violence in the interest of stability, peace and well being of this great country. We must not allow for the loss of any life and as I have always said, no one’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.
Please remain calm, law abiding and patriotic at this very crucial moment of our history”.
Thank you and God Bless Nigeria!
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Letter from Buhari’s CPC urging INEC to cancel results:
CONGRESS FOR PROGRESSIVE CHANGE(CPC)
MOTTO: EQUITY, PEACE AND PROSPERITY
CPC/HQ/GEN/02/2011/49
18th April, 2011
The Chairman
Independent National Electoral Commission
Zambezi Crescent, Maitama District
P. M. B. 0184, Garki
Abuja
Dear Sir
OBJECTION TO THE CONDUCT OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN THE SOUTH-SOUTH, SOUTH EAST ZONE AND SOME OTHER STATES OF THE COUNTRY
Our attention has been drawn by our State collation officers, polling agents, and election supervisors in the states of the South-South and South-East and some other states that the presidential elections held on the 16th day of April 2011 in Nigeria were conducted in substantial non-compliance with the principles of the Electoral Act with the effect that the results handed down were substantially affected by massive irregularities that include the following:
1. Members of the public in the areas mentioned were at most polling stations intimidated and driven away from the polling units with the effect that the ballot papers in ballot boxes were printed and stuffed in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
2. Opposition voters were directly and indirectly kept away from polling units through threats of force, violence and death in consequence of which they were disenfranchised.
3. There was clear absence of accreditation of voters in most of the polling units and the regulated procedure for the conduct of the purported election was as a result violently breached to the advantage of PDP.
4. There is strong suspicion, supported by reasonable grounds, that the Excel computer application installed in the computers of the Independent National Electoral Commission across the nation was deliberately designed to short change the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). This can be attested to by the unfolding situation of Katsina and Kano where the manual calculation of the results reveal that our Party was short changed by hundreds of thousands of votes when the results were manually reviewed.
APPEAL
Our Party, the Congress for Progressive Change is in consequence of the above, humbly appealing to the Chairman to:
1. Order the respective Chief Electoral Commissioners and such other custodians of all presidential election documents including statement of results, ballot papers and voters registers which are returned to the Commission by the Returning Officers to produce them to be analyzed in line with our allegation on multiple and alien voting by voters not registered at the polling units.
2. Investigate the allegation of manipulation of Excel Application Program installed in the field computers of INEC deliberately designed to favour PDP and short change CPC.
3. Order for the cancellation of the results handed down from the South-South and South East in the event the investigation revealed the alleged breaches.
4. Order for concurrent manual recalculation of the result across the country alongside the Excel Application calculation.
CONCLUSION
Based on credible information received and intelligence reports in the areas mentioned, we formally write to reject the entire results presented from Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo; Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi, states. Others include Ekiti, Ogun, Osun, Lagos, Sokoto, Kaduna, Jigawa, Gombe, Yobe, Zamfara, Adamawa, Nasarawa states and FCT.
We therefore appeal that you demand the ballot papers and result sheets as collated from these zones and states for scrutiny in the interest of peace, prosperity, free, fair and credible elections. We recall that on Sunday April 17, because of reports we received, we issued a press statement that we would accept only collated results from polling stations. What is being exhibited to the world is not collated from polling units but from the state headquarters where a lot of manipulations, we believe, had taken place.
Please remain assured of our respect for your office and person.
Yours sincerely
SGND
Prince Tony Momoh
National Chairman
Buba Galadima (Engr.)
National Secretary
cc: The Press
International Observers
Foreign Missions in Nigeria
