02:57
Former Head of State and a frontrunner for the All
Progressives Congress, APC, presidential ticket,
General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), has expressed
confidence in defeating President Goodluck
Jonathan in next year’s election if only the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
would make the election free and fair. He however
added that his emergence would also depend on
the choice of Nigerians.
The presidential aspirant, who also maintained that
he is qualified to contest, spoke in an interview
with Sunday Sun where he insisted that he had
won past presidential elections he participated in
and blamed his seeming defeats on the way the
elections were conducted, saying he has been
getting it right.
His words, “For example, look at what happened in
the Supreme Court in 2007. There were three
justices of the Supreme Court who presided over
the appeal from the Court of Appeal. And the
justices, three of them, said there should be
another election because the election was not
conducted according to law. Three justices said
well, there were flaws in the election, but all the
same, the ruling party has won. And then, the
Chief Justice, decided to cast his vote with the
three justices that said that yes, there were flaws,
but all the same, the ruling party could have won.
So, if the Supreme Court justices can be split, that
means the election was controversial.
“We gave the evidence and the decision of the
three justices that annulled the election arose from
the facts. We collated them from the field and got
them. That shows the contradiction with the
Electoral Act. And that was why they annulled the
election. The justices were led by retired Justice
Oguntande; himself and the previous Chief Justice,
Muktar, and one justice from Delta State,” he said.
Reacting to calls for him to step down for a much
younger aspirant, Buhari referred to the
Constitution and the Electoral Act which did not put
an age limit for anybody seeking elective office
even when they stipulated that such a person
must be 18 years and above.
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