The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Dumebi Kachikwu, believes that all the four major political parties rigged the poll in their strongholds.
Kachikwu made this revelation during an interview with The Punch, where he analysed the 25 February, 2023, presidential election.
The interview was conducted amid controversies over the failure in the use of technology, particularly, BVAS ( Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) during the presidential election.
Kachikwu said: “We went into this contest knowing that we were operating within a flawed system. I, for once never expected anything from INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission).
“I made it known to Nigerians that an INEC that refused to obey court orders and an INEC that had conducted sham elections could not overnight give us proper elections across the country. So what I said is that I predicted what happened in the presidential elections.”
According to Kachikwu: “INEC operates in mediocrity because they assume that we’re a country of mediocre people and that ultimately we will accept mediocre or sham elections.
“The four major parties, that is the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party), APC (All Progressives Congress; Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party rigged in the domains of their strengths but their rigging did not materially affect the outcome of the elections.
“What do I mean by this? 14 hours before the elections, I told Nigerians that I as a candidate representing the ADC had no pathway to victory. I said this because it was the proper thing to do. It is what people do in an advanced democracy.
“You let your supporters know your position so that they can make an informed decision as to if to continue with you on what seems to be a suicide mission or to take their votes somewhere else that might be similar to your convictions, or might align more with your views and policies.”
He continued by congratulating Tinubu on his victory, while describing the former Governor of Lagos State as a flawed candidate who manipulated a flawed political system and won an election in a country of flawed people.
He said: “I am aware that other parties, the PDP, the LP and other parties knew that APC was stronger and would win the elections. A strong opposition could not overcome the APC in the election four years ago, now how could a divided opposition, a PDP broken into an NNPP, LP, G-5 and PDP take on the same united APC, a sitting political party in government?
“We all knew it wasn’t impossible but those who were the candidates of those parties were being egotistical because they failed to see that what was more important were the wishes and aspirations of the Nigerian people.
“They failed to see that taking Nigeria on the forward path to progress was more important. They only cared about getting power for the sake of power. I warned them. I said the ruling party would win. No party has a pathway to victory.
“The Labour Party was only in this because it hoped to get a run-off so that at that point, Peter Obi could tell his supporters that the only choice he had was to negotiate.
“For the PDP members, their only belief was Atiku would get the nod of northern Nigeria who would say vote for Atiku Abubakar, and that might help tilt victory his way, but northern Nigerians who were the true heroes of this election said no, ‘It is the turn of the South.
“We will not support Atiku who is our northern brother’’ which is why Northern Nigeria decided to vote for a southern candidate but when voting, they said they would not vote for a candidate whose all campaign reeks of ethnicity and religion, which is why northern Nigeria supported Asiwaju Tinubu.
“Tinubu read the campaign. He is a political maestro. He understood what was going to happen and he stayed true to form. He took on a government that wanted to demystify him and put obstacles in his way and stayed to message and he won the election.
“So, I congratulated him because in spite of all the odds and all the obstacles, in spite of his obvious health challenges, he was able to take advantage of our flawed political system. A flawed candidate manipulated a flawed political system and won an election in a country of flawed people. This is our situation today.”
Moving forward, Kachikwu said there are two options before Nigerians, they can go the Labour Party or the PDP route, “which is to burn down Nigeria”.
“What this also means is that denying that someone has won, start a protest and hope that the protest consumes the country so that we can have an interim government or something. Or we can then come together as an opposition, chart a way forward, define a clear-cut agenda for Nigerians and also urge the winning party to chart an agenda that we will hold them accountable to.
“We must understand that Nigeria and Nigerians are bigger than political parties and the egos and ambitions of individuals.
“Our country at this point is challenged. Our economy’s in tatters. Security failed, our youths are unemployed, the poverty index is at an all-time high, and infrastructure deficits all-time high. We are challenged because we have failed in all sectors critical to human development. We must now come together as a people to make sure that Nigeria work.”