Former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has congratulated the re-elected Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, praising the people of the state for resisting those he referred to as coupists and enemies of democracy.
In a series of tweets on his verified Twitter handle on Tuesday, he asserted that Fintiri’s reelection as governor of Adamawa State is well deserved.
He thanked the people of the state and “men and women of goodwill for staying the course in resisting coupists and enemies of democracy from having their way.”
Atiku added: “The lesson from this exercise and others is the need for Nigerians to be vigilant and never give in to anti-democratic forces whose objective is to snatch, run with and undermine the mandate of the people as freely expressed in their votes.
“By the way, it is not yet uhuru as we still have one more major mandate to reclaim, and together as ONE, we shall accomplish the task for the good of our country and its people.”
Also, the national leadership of the PDP has described the victory of Fintiri as a momentous triumph for democracy and the will of the people of Adamawa State “over tyranny and desperate manipulative forces which sought to take over control of the State illegally.”
A statement issued on Tuesday by Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary, in a reaction to the governor’s re-election, noted the spontaneous jubilation of citizens in the state and across the nation at the official declaration of Governor Fintiri as the rightful winner of the election “irrespective of the nefarious schemes by the rejected All Progressives Congress (APC) is a confirmation that the PDP and its candidate are indeed the choice of the people.”
It said the governor’s overwhelming victory is a validation that “the will of the people cannot be subdued no matter the plot by a tyrannic, domineering and power-grabbing few who, with over-bloated ambition, desperately sought to subvert our democracy, scuttle the electoral process, compromise the judiciary, subjugate the people and impose an unconstitutional regime in the polity.”
The PDP saluted the courage, resilience and determination of the people of the state in “resisting the defeated APC and compromised INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mallam Hudu Yunusa Ari in their bid to destabilize the state.”
The statement added: “Our party also lauds the Adamawa State Returning Officer, Mohammed Mele for his courage in standing on the side of justice, due process and democracy in the discharge of his duty.”
The PDP saluted the roles played by the International and domestic election Observers, the Media, Organized Civil Society and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians in “ensuring that the mandate of the people of Adamawa State freely given to the PDP and our Candidate, Governor Fintiri, was not hijacked by APC supplanters.”
The PDP congratulated Governor Fintiri and the people of Adamawa State and urged the governor to continue in his landmark transformational delivery of democracy dividends to the people in line with the manifesto, programmes and policies of the PDP.
Similarly, governors of the PDP have congratulated Fintiri on his re-election, noting that the country has been rescued from its descent into abyss.
A statement issued by the PDP Governors Forum after the official declaration of the result, observed that the victory was a hard fought and hard won victory not just for Fintiri, but also for Adamawa State, democracy and due process in Nigeria.
The statement signed by the Director-General of the Forum, Cyril Maduabum, added: “Indeed, Nigeria has just been rescued from descent into the abyss. We have just has dodged another bullet.
“We commend INEC for redeeming itself and hopes that this is a harbinger of things to come. It is in this regard that the Commission is requested to promptly re-visit all other elections where infractions have been identified.
“Where the matters have been taken to the Tribunal, INEC should assume a garb and toga of neutrality and inform the Tribunals of the actual events that transpired in the elections.
“It has been shown by today’s development that INEC can reverse itself where mistakes have been made.
“We call on Gov. Fintiri to continue to justify this huge mandate and trust of the people of Adamawa State.”
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