Barely 16 days before the inauguration of the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, the DA-Democratic Alternative Party has urged Nigerians to rise against the inauguration, alleging that the process that produced Tinubu was characterised by a lot of irregularities and fraud.
Presidential candidate of the DA-Democratic Alternative Party, Mr Victor Vishnay, who made the call in Abuja yesterday during a press briefing, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to cancel the 2023 polls on grounds that it did not meet acceptable international standards.
“I enjoin Nigerians to call on the president to cancel the 2023 general election, especially the presidential election”, because of corrupt practices.
“We need change, real change, the fight for a better Nigeria starts with the cancellation of the election. It was not free and fair.”
According to him, Buhari by displaying his ballot paper shortly after casting his vote thereby showing that he voted for Tinubu, “single-handedly influenced the outcome of the February 25, presidential election”.
“So, the only way out is for the president to cancel the election; he should give reasons for the cancellation and step aside. The Vice President can take over or he will set up a committee to manage the country after his exit”.
Besides the cancellation of the election, the presidential candidate called for the investigation and subsequent prosecution of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, for “sabotage”.
He noted that Yakubu had no excuse whatsoever to fail, stating that Nigerians must begin to be responsive and ensure that people are punished for their alleged failings or offences.
Earlier, the National Chairman of the party, Prince Frank Ukonga, threatened to drag the electoral umpire to court for excluding the party from the 2023 polls.
He disclosed that DA-Democratic Alternative Party was amongst the 74 political parties deregistered by INEC in 2020, which were later restored by the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
“Basking on this legal window in favour of DA to be relisted by INEC, DA applied to participate in the Enugu State Local Government Election of February 23, 2022, and ENSIEC, granted DA the opportunity to participate in the election by obeying the court judgment of suit FHC/ABJ/ CS/456/2021 in favour of DA and 2 others”, Ukonga said.
He, however, noted that INEC refused to include them in the 2023 polls despite “our letter of March 3, 2023, expressing our dissatisfaction in the exclusion of DA presidential candidate, Mr. Victor Vishnay; vice presidential candidate, Mrs. Hafsatu Abubakar and other candidates and DA logo from the 2023 general election.”
The national chairman while calling on INEC to obey the judgment of the Supreme Court in INEC vs Youth Party to relist the 74 illegally deregistered political parties and allow multi-party democracy to flourish in Nigeria.