Atiku will never be president of Nigeria, says Oshiomhole

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole has declared that presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, will never be President of the country.

Oshiomhole, who spoke to reporters at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja, stated that the outcome of the presidential polls won by President Muhammadu Buhari was more of a referendum between voting for a man of integrity and a man of doubtful integrity.

He insisted that the outcome of the elections was a true reflection of the wishes of Nigerians notwithstanding noticeable hitches in parts of the country.

Faulting Atiku’s claim that Nigeria lost over N85 billion in the stock market over the declaration of Buhari as winner of the polls, he described Atiku’s claim that results declared by the Independent National Electoral (INEC) were statistically incorrect, as laughable.

Oshiomhole said it beats his imagination that Atiku still sees himself as the only person that could tackle the multifaceted problems besetting the country.

Accusing Atiku of breaching the peace accord over his rejection of the results, he claimed that the APC lost thousands of votes in the South-South and Southeast geopolitical zones, as well as Adamawa State due to the machinations of INEC officials.

He maintained that huge votes scored by the President in the North East were justified in view of the successes recorded in his fight against Book Haram insurgents.

Oshiomhole also disclosed that the APC would petition INEC over the outcome of the polls in Akwa Ibom State, which saw the defeat of Senator Godswill Akpabio and other candidates of the party to the PDP.

He explained why the 15 million votes scored by President Buhari should not be seen as a surprising development.

“In 1999, which was the first election conducted under the military led by General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.), former President Obasanjo won the election with 18.7 million votes.

“But by 2003 when PDP assumed full incumbency and when Obasanjo began to describe electionsm, as a do or die affair and when Atiku was Vice President, they catapulted their votes from 18.7 million to 24.4 million. This cannot be explained whether by reason of population growth or even party popularity.

“In 2007, incidentally that was an election I also participated as governorship candidate in Edo State, we all recall the massive rigging of that election. And PDP was able to increase their numbers from 24.4 million in 2003 to 24.6 million in 2007.

“Various tribunals in many states nullified elections. And in my own case, I was one of the few candidates who went to court and retrieved my mandate,” he stated.