Presidential Candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the April 21 election, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), is seeking a halt to the inauguration of President-elect, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar�Adua, in furtherance of his (Buhari) resolve to firm up public resentment against the result of the election.
Yar�Adua, who is also Governor of Katsina State, was officially declared winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on April 23.
His victory got an endorsement from an unusual quarter yesterday when the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), rose from an emergency meeting in Warri, Delta State, and threw its weight behind the election and the emergence of Yar�Adua and Dr Goodluck Jonathan as President-elect and vice president-elect of Nigeria respectively.
In a statement yesterday, Buhari warned that going ahead with the inauguration of Yar�Adua and others who emerged through what he called the disputed polls would amount to institutionalising rigging and fraud in the polity.
�We urge people to remain resolute against rigged elections which is the worst form of corruption. The travesty in 2003 which passed off largely unchallenged is responsible for this massive electoral fraud in 2007,� Buhari said in the statement which he personally signed.
He further called on �lovers of democracy� to close ranks to stamp out recurring electoral frauds in the country by rejecting the outcome of the polls.
�Unless true lovers of democracy join forces to put a stop to this fraud, it will continue unabated. Therefore, if this election is allowed to stand, in 2011 they will just announce the result over the radio 24 hours before the election and Nigerians will have no say on who governs them.�
He further warned: �Inaugurating this government is a clear case of rewarding unconstitutional action which means Nigerians have agreed that cheating does pay.�
Buhari thanked all those who took part in the nationwide prayers which he called last Friday and Sunday in mosques and churches for the repose of the souls of those killed and others injured during the �troubles� as he chose to refer to the elections.
In thanking all those who took part in the prayers, he said: �We are encouraged by this response, as reports indicate that a number of mosques and churches took part in this patriotic duty to our country.�
Stating opposition to the call by the opposition political parties� presidential candidates for a mass action against Yar�Adua�s victory, MEND said it was prepared to defend the election, saying that any move by any group to undermine the result would be resisted by it.
The organisation in a communiqu� issued at the end of an emergency plenary meeting in Warri, Delta State yesterday, upheld the outcome of the presidential election, and warned the Senate leadership not to throw Nigeria into crisis through her utterances.
The group also said the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities including all resistance organizations would resist the temptation and evil machination of the National Assembly to impose Interim National Government (ING) on the people of Nigeria, adding that, the agitation of the Senate was a deliberate ploy to deprive the Niger Delta people the opportunity to be part of the country policy making.
The communiqu�, which was signed by Commander Tare Ebimobowei and General Oweifa Ombu, however alerted Nigerians of plans by some politicians to put Nigeria into crisis and escape with their families to foreign countries for safety while they leave the children of other people to suffer and die.
Condemning the statement credited to the Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, on the clandestine overtures by him as the head of the National Assembly to foist an interim government on Nigeria, the MEND further warned that any attempt to cancel or change the results of the elections as they stand now will not only throw the country into confusion but may portend grave danger to the existence of the country.
Noting that there might be some hitches and inadequacies in processing the last election, the group maintained that the situation does not demand outright cancellation of the election.
�Since our political independence, there has been series of transitional upheavals and that at this material time, it would be absurd if not ridiculous for certain interests and more importantly some of the defeated presidential candidates of some political parties, to fan the embers of discord and promote instability across the country,� MEND further stressed.
May12007