By G9ija
Naja’atu Mohammed, a supporter of the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari, the President of Nigeria, of rigging the February 25 election in favor of Bola Tinubu, the candidate for the All Progressives Congress.
Naja’atu was previously a director in the APC Presidential Campaign Council, but she defected to Atiku’s camp.
In addition to the rigging allegations, Naja’atu also criticized President Buhari for what she sees as an abuse of the rule of law, widespread corruption, and other similar problems that she says have characterized governance in Nigeria over the past eight years.
Naja’atu, in a statement she issued on Thursday in Abuja, expressed her disappointment with President Buhari for publicly displaying his ballot paper after casting his vote. She criticized the president for disregarding the secrecy of the ballot, which is an important aspect of the country’s voting system.
She said, “The just concluded presidential election has further exposed the inability of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to rule this country fairly and justly; a President that has never shied away from spitting on the laws of the land that have been entrusted to him to serve, and to protect.
“He is the President that has led the most inept and corrupt regime in the history of Nigeria; a President that promised us free and fair elections after putting Nigerians through the most hardship recorded in the history of this country, only for him to fail to deliver on his electoral promises; a President that will openly and brazenly raise his ballot paper before the public to show the world who he has voted for.” She added.
In response, The All Progressives Congress (APC) Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, dismissed Naja’atu’s criticism stating that she lacked credibility and should not be taken seriously.
He said, “Naja’atu is a member of the Police Service Commission. You will recall that she was dropped from the list of supervisors to monitor election activities in the North East after the APC PCC petitioned the PSC because of her partisanship. She was not just openly partisan, she was also a card-carrying member of the PDP.
“She got the position of member of the PSC by virtue of her membership of APC from the North-West. If Naja’atu has shame and credibility, she ought to have resigned completely from the PSC immediately she dropped her membership of the APC. But because it is lucrative, she was only interested in relinquishing her membership of the party and not membership of the position she secured through the party.
“That does not show a person with credibility. You cannot divorce your wife and still be sneaking in to meet her. If you leave, you have to leave completely. That is the meaning of resignation in principle.” He added