Former ally accuses Buhari of electoral fraud

A former ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, Buba Galadima on Wednesday accused the president and his party, the All Progressives Congress of electoral fraud by using the military to rig the 2019 presidential election.

According to him, the military used its Operation Python Dance launched across all states of the federation “effectively to intimidate voters, to harass voters, to kill voters and write results for the APC”.

Asked if he was simply making allegations, he said he would prove his claims if challenged in court.

“If it is an allegation, go and ask a host of places in Benue, Plateau, Borno, Yobe and Zamfara. Ask them whether there was military kept over during the election which the supreme court of Nigeria had clearly said in 2003, 2007, 20111 that soldiers have no business in even appearing during election and we all know that the terms of military engagement in internal affairs has to follow certain procedures.

“Let them go to court, I’ll substantiate it. You know it is a fact that one month to the election, the military had declared what you called Python Dance across the 36 states of the federation.

“That is preparatory to their engagement during the election and they used it effectively to intimidate voters, to harass voters to kill voters and write results for the APC. Is that an allegation? Did you not see what happened in Rivers?”.

He also alleged that the APC paid some influential people to talk to Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP, not to challenge the results in court.

“Records available to us show that our candidates had won this election and that is why we had gone to court,” he said.

“APC have insisted, sponsored even demonstrated and sponsored some highly placed Nigerians paid them handsomely to appeal to Atiku not to go to court. What is their business? Didn’t their candidate in 2003, 2007 and 2011 go to court to challenge results? Did he ever congratulate those that were declared to have won those elections?”