Work hard to win rerun, as Buhari won’t urge INEC to rig for APC —Presidency

The Presidency on Sunday warned political leaders it accused of
making inflammatory statements ahead of Saturday’s supplementary
elections to desist forthwith.

It also noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission
was fully in charge of electoral matters in the country, and not
President Muhammadu Buhari, who it says would neither interfere
with the process nor change results in favour of the ruling All
Progressives Congress.

In a statement on Sunday, the Presidency said some party leaders
expected that Buhari would abuse his office by usurping the powers
of INEC to turn the tables in their favour.

It stated that the President would do no such thing, while it
advised party leaders in the affected six states to work hard to
earn the votes of the people on Saturday.

The statement, which was signed by presidential spokesman, Mr.
Garba Shehu, read in part, “The Presidency also rejects unfair and
ridiculous criticisms of President Muhammadu Buhari’s apparent
disinterest in the upcoming elections in some states by party
members who wrongfully assume that the President will abuse his
power by changing results to favour them.

“Past presidents of Nigeria were known to interfere in
inconclusive elections, and that is why party members appear to be
upset that the same thing is not happening now.

“President Buhari is a different kind of leader. He swore to
defend the Constitution and he will not veer off from that.

“The Constitution of Nigeria gives the President no such powers.
It is unfair and ridiculous to criticise President Buhari for not
going against the Constitution.

“Party members in states where there will be supplementary
elections then need to be reminded that they need to work hard to
earn their people’s votes, rather than expect President Buhari to
manipulate INEC in their favour.”

The Presidency further observed that while the ruling All
Progressives Congress members were expecting Buhari to interfere,
the opposition too had concluded that the President would use INEC
to assist his party to victory.

The Presidency maintained that Buhari would not play to the
wishes of anyone on the supplementary elections, insisting that the
APC must work hard to earn votes.

“Interestingly, while members of the ruling APC party were
criticising the President for not interfering on their behalf,
members of the opposition were condemning the President based on
their assumptions that he would definitely interfere, as many in
the opposition did while in power.

“Under President Buhari, INEC had been and will be completely
independent throughout the elections, free from any
interference.

“President Buhari is a man of conviction, and the manipulation
of election results goes against everything he stands for.

“INEC is completely in charge,” the Presidency added.