The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has appreciated Nigerians for coming out in large numbers to vote in Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
Mr Dele Alake, the Special Adviser, Media and Communication, APC PCC said this at a news conference on Monday in Abuja.
Alake said that Saturday was momentous day in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
This, he said, was especially as Nigerians lined up to choose the next set of leaders, particularly the president and National Assembly members that would direct the country`s affairs for the next four years.
He expressed happiness over the pleasant atmosphere under which the election was conducted, saying both domestic and international election observers adjudged the election and the process as credible and transparent.
According to him, the observers also applauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for the general peaceful conduct of the election.
This, Alake said, was in spite of isolated cases of technical hitches and attempts by some desperate opponents to subvert the process through violence and other malpractices.
He said that the results trickling in since the close of voting on Saturday, had clearly showed the direction Nigerians had chosen to go.
He added that right from the polling unit results received from across the country, the signs were clear that the deceit and propaganda of the opposition did not fetch them the expected votes.
“This has expectedly generated anxiety in their camps with many of their leaders making irresponsible incendiary comments.
“We note with utmost concern those inciting comments and call to violence by some spokespersons of the opposition, especially those from the Peoples` Democratic Party (PDP).
“We are particularly concerned and call on the State Security Services and the Nigeria Police Force to immediately restrain persons such as Dino Melaye, Dele Momodu and a certain Pastor Paul Enenche of Dunamis Church from their clear call to violence,“ Alake said.
He said the actions and statements of these persons on tweeter, Television and from the pulpit, violated every law of the land, saying that they should not go scot-free.
“When failure stared them in the face, rather than accept the outcome with dignity like good democrats would, some sore losers began shopping for ways to cut corners or scuttle the process.
“We have seen many doctored results giving false victory to the Labour Party in places where it performed abysmally poor.
“The idea was to give its followers hope and prepare them for a planned street insurrection, the PDP has employed almost similar tactics despite secretly admitting defeat,’’ he said.
He wondered why PDP agents at the Abuja collation centre were pushing insistently for the uploading of the election results on INEC portal.
Alake said that section 60 of the Electoral Act was clear about who had the power to do so at the polling unit, adding that the state collation officer had no such power.
“Unlike what the PDP spokesmen have done, we will not announce ourselves as winners despite having the figures which affirm our anticipated victory.
“We will abide by the laws by allowing the electoral umpire to do its job, a cursory look at the figures from across the states shows that our candidate is well placed for victory.
“The results have shown that the Labour Party, as we kept saying, is no threat to our victory.
“The PDP, on the other hand, has also failed in its own permutation making its dream of victory go up in smoke, its projection of a landslide win in the North has collapsed,“ Alake said.
He added that the bad news for the PDP was its dismal performance in Kano where the APC was emerging with over 600,000 difference ahead of it.
Alake said this was a monumental figure which offsets the PDP in the entire North.
He added that the trend was the same in the South where PDP’s very poor show in Lagos, Oyo, Rivers and other key states spelled doom for it.
According to him, the little gains made by the PDP in South-South and South-East are too little to compensate for the huge deficit it suffered in the South-West.
“In the North-Central, the APC has decimated all parties to a comfortable majority votes in Kwara, Kogi and Niger states.
“Our impressive show in Benue, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Plateau is also pushing PDP into third position in these places. Taken together, we are very upbeat as the numbers do not lie.
“We call on the opposition to stop the macabre dance of a dying horse and embrace defeat honorably, there can still be honour in defeat, “ Alake said.
He called for maturity and restraint, adding that Nigerians had spoken through the ballots and INEC must be allowed to do its work without harassment or blackmail.
He advised that security agents should stay on alert and deal with individuals and groups planning to foment trouble, saying that election was not a war.
He thanked Nigerians for subscribing to APC message of Renewed Hope and called on its supporters to remain calm and hopeful.
Alake said the party would ensure that their votes were not manipulated by any person, group of persons or subversive elements
NAN
