Chairman of the  Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC),  Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN),  has told Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to concede defeat in last Saturday’s presidential poll and not to challenge the election results in court.

Sagay said aside losing the elections, Atiku who is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would also lose in court because the election complied substantially with the rules of elections as noted by both local and foreign observers.

He urged him to maintain his dignity and earn the respect of Nigerians and the world by congratulating Buhari just as former President Goodluck Jonathan did in 2015.

Sagay said: “My advice to Atiku is that it’s not advisable for him to go to court for political and moral reasons.

“He should be mature politically and accept defeat with dignity.

“By rejecting the result, what he is doing is to drag himself on the ground and lose all the little dignity that he has left. At the end of the day, he will be a double loser.

“On the legal side, you can only upset a declaration of victory of an election if you can establish that the process of the election did not comply substantially with the rules of the election.

“So, if there is failure to comply in some areas, it has no effect on the validity of the election. It has to be substantial.

“There is no way anybody can say that this election does not comply substantially in electoral rules. All the various observers and monitors have written their reports and they have said it was a well organised election with hitches here and there.

“What this means is that they are saying it substantially complies with the rules. So, legally, Atiku will fail, morally he will fail, and so, it’s not just good for him.

“Today, the only claim to fame that Jonathan has was in accepting defeat and phoning President Buhari.

“After we have blamed him for his misgovernance and all the poor things he did, then we remember that aspect and then we respect him and the world also respects him for it.

“So, I think.”

It will be recalled that the runner-up in last Saturday’s presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has provided more reasons why he is rejecting the result of the election.Mr Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lost by over 3 million votes to President Muhammadu Buhari, according to the electoral commission, INEC.Mr Buhari, according to the electoral body, scored 15,191,847 votes. Mr Abubakar garnered 11,262,978 votes to finish as runner-up. INEC on Wednesday issued the certificate of return to Mr Buhari and his running mate, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Mr Abubakar, however, says the election was a “grand theft of the people’s will.”

 

What do you think about this story ? Share your views in the comment section below

 

SOURCE: DAILYPOST,PREMIUM TIMES