Frank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has backed the report by the European Union, EU, Election Monitoring Group that the 2023 presidential election was rigged to favour President Bola Tinubu.
He affirmed the reports that the last general election in Nigeria was marred by electoral irregularities and failed to meet the minimum standard of credibility.
In a statement he signed, Shaibu said, “even the dead knew that the last election lacked credibility, and even the Independent National Electoral Commission had been unable to explain why nearly five months after the election, it had refused to upload the full result on its result viewing portal.
“Even primary school children who did not vote know that INEC failed woefully and that Tinubu rigged the last election.”
He wondered why the Nigerian government would receive billions of dollars from the EU as an election fund but rejected the body’s comment on the polls.
This was as Shaibu criticized Tinubu and his spokesman, Dele Alake, for trying to discredit the report.
He charged Alake to remain quiet rather than defend irregularities.
“The EU not only provided training for INEC staff but also donated equipment only for INEC to conduct a shambolic poll. So why would Alake claim that the EU has no right to speak when it was the largest single donor to INEC? Mr Alake should rather be quiet rather than try to defend the indefensible,” he added.
However, the Nigerian government rejected the report saying it was flawed and was not a reflection of what transpired during the election.
