Why I will not comment on the outcome of 2019 presidential election - Obasanjo
- Former president Obasanjo said he would not comment on the outcome of the 2019 presidential election
- The former president said he decided not to comment on the election because the election is already being challenged in court
- Obasanjo said commenting on the election would be ”subjudice”
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has explained why he would not comment on the outcome of the February 23 presidential election, adding that speaking about the election would be ”subjudice.”
According to Premium Times, Obasanjo said this on Tuesday, March 19, at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre Abuja, at the launch of a book written by Abdullahi Shehu, titled ”Election in Nigeria: The Long Road To Democracy.”
Other dignitaries at the event include a former head of state, Yakubu Gowon; human right activist, Femi Falana; a former deputy president of the Senate, Ibrahim Mantu; Chido Onumah, author of ‘We Are All Biafrans”, among many others.
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Speaking further about why he has not spoken about the outcome of the election, Obasanjo said:
"I will not dabble into the details of what I call current aspect of Prof Shehu’s book because since the emphasis was on the national election, particularly the presidential election, and the presidential election is now taken to court.
"I think talking about it would become subjudicive, because it has been taken to court."
The former president, however, reviewed Shehu’s book, commenting about it's main theme.
His words: "The book discusses the election and electoral processes in Nigeria including why there must be a free fair transparent and credible election as predictive autumn of the country.
”It reviews the main factors that led to the defeat of the PDP in 2015, and how the APC mismanaged the victory. The main thrust of the book is a comparative analysis of the APC Next Level and the PDP ” Let’s Get Nigeria Working Again.
”In the introduction in which election is the bedrock of a democratic government, all modern democracy and old elections, not all elections are truly democratic. The measure of a democratic election is that it is transparent fair, credible and acceptable
”The problem is who determines these outcomes in the election? And that is where the concerns about a sustainable democracy arises and sustainable democracy, if an election is fundamental and basic to democracy and good governance.”
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Legit.ng reports that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, who was supported by Obasanjo, lost to President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s 2019 election is bad news for democracy - Ex-US ambassador
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Buhari as the winner with 15,191,847 votes as against Atiku's 11,262,978 votes.
The PDP presidential flagbearer has, however, challenged the result in court. Atiku asked the presidential election tribunal to declare him winner of the February 23 election.
He made the request in a petition filed before the tribunal in Abuja on Monday, March 18, where he challenged President Buhari’s re-election.
The PDP national legal adviser, Emmanuel Enoidem, told journalists that in addition to the request that Atiku be declared the winner of the election, the party was also seeking for the election to be set aside over alleged widespread irregularities.
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INEC announces Buhari as 2019 election winner, Nigerians react | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
