By Agency
Opposition key figure in the just concluded Nigeria’s election Atiku Abubakar has criticised what he called a “sham election” in Nigeria,and has vowed to go to court to challenge Buhari’s second term.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was re-elected in Saturday’s poll, insisted that it had been free and fair.
Delays and violence marred the run-up to the election but no independent observer has cited electoral fraud.
In the 1980s, Mr Buhari, 76, was one of several military rulers in Nigeria and this election marks the 20th anniversary of the return to civilian rule.
Mr Buhari got 15.2 million votes while Mr Abubakar received 11.3 million.
Turnout was a record low at just 35.6% and Mr Abubakar, 72, said this was the result of a deliberate policy to prevent his supporters from voting. He said that troops had been deployed to strongholds of his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to stop people casting their ballots.
Mr Abubakar said there had been “premeditated malpractices” in many states and wondered how states “ravaged” by the Islamist insurgency – in Mr Buhari’s strongholds in the north – generated higher voter turnouts than more peaceful states.
“How can total votes in Akwa-Ibom, for instance, be 50% less than what they were in 2015?” he asked in his statement.
