The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the recent report by the European Union (EU) has lent credence to its initial claims that the 2019 presidential election was rigged in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Party (APC).

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the EU report has further vindicated the party and millions of Nigerians, noting that “the revelations of manipulations as detailed in the EU report further validates queries by majority of Nigerians that President Buhari was not validly returned for a second term in office”.

The PDP stated that “the world can now see that the PDP has not been crying wolf in insisting that the election was outrightly rigged with the cancellation of millions of PDP votes, alteration of results and allocation of fictitious votes to the APC.”

“Nigerians are still in shock over the revelations by EU of how about 2.8 million votes were deliberately ‘cancelled without sufficient accountability’ and how several returning officers gave no reason for the cancellations.

“More shocking is the iniquity committed at the national collation centre, headed by the INEC Chairman, where the EU report exposed inconsistent numbers, distortions and a large discrepancy of 1.66 million more registered voters, as announced by INEC on 14 January, compared to those announced by state returning officers during the collation of presidential results.

“Nigerians witnessed, on national TV, how professors and returning officers were unable to reconcile result figures due to heavy manipulations upon which INEC declared the APC winner.”

said “the EU report has further exposed the iniquity committed by the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC by listing how ballot boxes were compromised, how essential materials were missing, how ‘voter register was not always ticked as required’ and how ‘manual authentication procedures were not correctly followed.’”

The report also bared how figures on result forms did not reconcile, how result forms were not publicly posted, how “result forms and smart card readers were not packed in tamper-evident envelops as required,” in addition to how the APC administration used security forces to intimidate voters, aid violence against our members and muscled votes for the APC.

The PDP commended the EU for the courage in exposing the evils committed by the APC and INEC in the 2019 general elections.

“Moreover, the report has further reinforced the confidence of millions of Nigerians in our collective expectation of justice in the quest to retrieve our stolen Presidential mandate at the tribunal,” the statement said.

The PDP insisted that those in INEC, who perpetrated such crime against our nation, in sabotaging the sanctity of our electoral processes to frustrate the choice of Nigerians in a presidential election, must be brought to book and made to face the wrath of the law.

“Our party therefore urges Nigerians to remain calm as the truth about the election continues to unfold while justice takes its course on the matter,” PDP said.

Meanwhile, PDP NWC has approved September 3, 2019 for the gubernatorial primary elections for both Kogi and Bayelsa states upcoming governorship polls scheduled for November 16, 2019 by INEC. The party added that ward congresses to elect the three-man ad-hoc delegates scheduled for August 22, 2019, while local government congresses for national delegates would take place on August 26, 2019. Full time-table would be released once same is approved by the party’s NWC.