In an election that had a total of 73 candidates, the APC's President Muhammadu Buhari won 15,191,847 of the total votes cast while his closest opponent, PDP's Atiku Abubakar, gained 11,262,978 votes.
Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), ended the election with only 21,886 votes according to the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a signed statement released on Friday, March 1, 2019, Moghalu said his low tally could only have been possible due to the "brazen theft of our votes and the suppression of our voters".
He accused the APC and PDP of being complicit in electoral malpractices which he said was carried out through massive vote-buying and vote-rigging through various methods as well as violence in several locations in the country.
He said the malpractices, coupled with INEC's operational failures, have left the credibility of the election open to question, as he alleged that his final number of votes doesn't reflect the electoral strength of his candidacy.
Despite his rejection of the result, Moghalu said the 2019 election is an indication that the old political order that has robbed Nigeria of real development is on its last leg, and that things will be better in 2023.
He also proposed that fundamental reforms be made to Nigeria's electoral system so as to avoid the problems that plagued the conduct of elections that took place on February 23.
"As we move forward as a country, we need fundamental reform of our electoral system if our democracy is to have any real meaning. Elections as they are organized and executed today in Nigeria are a travesty.
"We need to reform the systems of registration, voting and collation of votes by making the processes more transparent through better use of technology.
"As of today, these processes are tedious, inefficient and prone to risks and performance failures such as those we have experienced. We also must stiffen punishment and enforce accountability for electoral offenses," he said.
He said President Buhari owes Nigerians an inclusive and competent government by implementing a new, philosophically and conceptually grounded approach to economic management that goes beyond mere economic growth statistics to real economic development and structural transformation.
"Our struggle for a better and well governed society, a productive and inclusive economy that breaks the backbone of poverty, and to restore Nigeria’s leadership role in the world continues. I for my part will remain engaged in that struggle over the long haul," he said.
Atiku has rejected the result of the election and announced his decision to contest Buhari's victory in court.
No comments:
Post a Comment