The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday enjoined the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to instruct the Collation Officers for the Saturday presidential election to upload the results to the INEC server immediately.
Atiku, in a statement on Sunday, emphasised that this has become necessary to checkmate some governors who are trying to compromise the results at the local government collation level.
According to the PDP presidential candidate, “it will be a disservice to Nigerians and a negation to democracy for anyone to subvert the will of the people as freely expressed in their votes of yesterday.”
Atiku called on Nigerians to be calm but vigilant to ensure that anti-democratic elements who are masquerading as progressives do not steal their mandate.
The statement partly reads: “And in what is already turning out to be a nail-biting race in the 2023 Nigerian presidential elections, early results from polling units and exit polls indicate that Atiku Abubakar is projected to become the first candidate to meet the mandatory 25% requirement of votes cast in at least 24 states.
“According to the latest projections, Atiku is also set to exceed expectations in at least 10 states, where he is projected to garner over 40% of the votes cast.
“Meanwhile, the PDP presidential candidate has expressed gratitude to the Nigerian people for their support so far and pledged to continue to work hard to earn their trust and confidence.
“While it is still too early to predict the final outcome of the elections, Atiku Abubakar’s early success has certainly put him in a strong position as the race enters its final stages.”
Atiku and his team, therefore, declared: “We are humbled and honoured by the early projections, which indicate that the Nigerian people have seen in Atiku Abubakar the kind of leader that they want to lead them into a brighter future.
“From the current figures that are available, Atiku is winning in many states in the 6 geo-political zones, except Lagos and Kano. We urge our members and party agents to remain steadfast and watchful”.