The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has urged opposition parties to acknowledge their defeat and relinquish their grip on the 2023 presidential election, given their resounding loss in the poll.
According to the Nigerian Tribune, Mohammed asserted that President Buhari should be highly praised for conducting the most exceptional election in the history of the country.
He further stated that the opposition’s vehement and anticipated response to the president’s remarks has exposed them as being shamelessly bitter about their loss. These remarks were made known in a statement released on Sunday by his media special assistant, Segun Adeyemi, in Abuja.
Lai stated that the President’s assessment of the causes of the opposition’s defeat in the 2023 election was irrefutable. He further stated that both Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party were defeated due to their overconfidence and complacency.
He also added that President Muhammadu Buhari was able to fulfill his obligations by executing a transparent, equitable, and trustworthy election, guaranteeing his legacy.
Mohammed stated that the president prioritizes the integrity of the election over winning his state and many of his party’s strongholds. He ensured fair competition for all parties involved.
The Minister emphasized that the opposition’s excessive confidence leading up to the election was partly due to the overwhelming social media propaganda and inaccurate polls. These were aimed at deceiving their foreign supporters and some sections of the international media into believing that they were on the verge of victory when, in reality, they were headed for defeat.
Furthermore, Mohammed asserted that Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, rightfully won the presidential election. Tinubu secured the majority of the votes cast and exceeded the constitutional requirement of obtaining 25% of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of all states in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
Mohammed further said none of the opposition parties fulfilled the requirements set forth for winning the presidential election, as evidenced by the results. Despite their pre-election boasting, they did not even come close. The opposition parties are relying on some international observers to support their baseless assertion that the election was rigged.
However, Mohammed noted that a respected US diplomat confirmed that the APC presidential candidate had undoubtedly won the election, despite the opposition’s claims.
“They conveniently disregarded the statements of Ambassador Johnnie Carson, a highly respected US diplomat who co-led the International Election Observation Mission to Nigeria by the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute.”
Ambassador Carson affirmed that the APC candidate had unquestionably emerged victorious in the polls. Moreover, they overlooked the African Union Election Observation Mission’s report, which stated that the majority of the polling units visited had a serene and peaceful atmosphere.
He pointed out that these reports prompted several nations, including the US and UK, to swiftly congratulate the APC presidential candidate on his win.”
Mohammed spoke out against the opposition’s claims that the delay in uploading the election results to the IReV portal used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) damage the poll’s credibility.
He criticized the opposition’s assertions, stating that they were fraudulent and deceptive tactics employed by desperate individuals to undermine the election’s legitimacy.
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