Buhari Congratulates Tinubu, Asks Aggrieved Parties to Provide Evidence Election was Rigged

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Bola Tinubu, for being declared the winner of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday.

Buhari, who shared his congratulatory message via social media, described Tinubu as “the best person for the job”, promising to “work with him and his team to ensure an orderly handover of power.”

The president spoke amid public outcry and reports by both local and international election observers that the presidential election lacks credibility. Though Buhari acknowledged that there have been irregularities, including the failure of INEC to transmit results electronically, he said the outcome of the election reveal that democracy is ripening in our country.

He added that none of the issues registered represent a challenge to the freeness and fairness of the elections.

The president, who had in the buildup of the election, vowed to ensure that Nigeria has free and fair election, urged the public not protest the result.

The trio of Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) have rejected the outcome of the election, calling for cancellation of the presidential polls and the resignation of INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu.

Buhari said “if any candidate believes they can prove the fraud they claim is committed against them, then bring forward the evidence.” Failure to do so he said, “then we must conclude that the election was indeed the people’s will.”

Read the full statement below:

I congratulate His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his victory. Elected by the people, he is the best person for the job. I shall now work with him and his team to ensure an orderly handover of power.

The election was Africa’s largest democratic exercise. In a region that has undergone backsliding and military coups in recent years, this election demonstrates democracy’s continued relevance and capability to deliver for the people it serves.

Within Nigeria, the results reveal democracy’s ripening in our country. Never has the electoral map shifted so drastically in one cycle.

In the presidential elections, States in all regions across Nigeria changed colour. Some amongst you may have noticed my home State among them. The winning candidate did not carry his own home State either. That happens during a competitive election.

Votes and those that cast them cannot be taken for granted. Each must be earned. Competition is good for our democracy. There is no doubt the people’s decision has been rendered in the results we look at today.

That is not to say the exercise was without fault. For instance, there were technical problems with electronic transmission of the results. Of course, there will be areas that need work to bring further transparency and credibility to the voting procedure.

However, none of the issues registered represent a challenge to the freeness and fairness of the elections.

I know some politicians and candidates may not agree with this view. That too is fine. If any candidate believes they can prove the fraud they claim is committed against them, then bring forward the evidence.

If they cannot, then we must conclude that the election was indeed the people’s will – no matter how hard that may be for the losers to accept. If they feel the need to challenge, please take it to the courts, not to the streets.

To take to the streets means they are not doing it in the interest of the people, but rather to inflame, to put people in harm’s way and all for personal, selfish gains.

After a degree of polarization that necessarily accompanies any election, it is now time to come together and act responsibly. I call on all candidates to remember the peace pledge they signed just days before the election.

Do not undermine the credibility of INEC. Let us now move forward as one.

The people have spoken.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.