In a scathing rebuke of President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent comments on the 2023 elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the international community to take swift action by imposing a visa ban and other travel restrictions on the Nigerian leader.
At a press briefing in Abuja, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, accused Buhari of gloating over what he described as Nigeria’s worst election in recent memory, and attempting to bully the judiciary into legitimizing a flawed process.
The party has also demanded that the sanctions be extended to all those involved in manipulating the outcome of the elections.
The President’s remarks, made during a meeting with the Progressive Governors Forum, have been widely criticized by opposition parties and civil society groups as an attempt to undermine the democratic process and silence dissent.
Buhari had said: “They were already telling their foreign backers that they would defeat the APC.
“Our party blended confidence with caution, we worked hard and won. Now, their overconfidence is creating more problems for the opposition than anyone else.”
Reacting today in Abuja, PDP said it did not lose the presidential election as claimed by Buhari.
According to Ologunagba, “We are not willing to surrender the mandate freely given to our party by the people irrespective of the threats, bullying and manipulation by the APC-led administration.
“Having clearly undermined democracy in Nigeria, the PDP calls on the International Community to accordingly impose sanctions, including visa ban and travel restrictions, on President Buhari and his family immediately he vacates office on May 29.
“This demand for sanction is in line with President Buhari’s request on February 17, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium, wherein he called on the European Union (EU) to impose ‘weighty sanctions’ on those engaged in ‘unconstitutional change of governments’ as well as those influencing the ‘process and outcomes of elections’.
“The PDP also demands an open investigation into the roles played by President Buhari in the undermining of democracy in Nigeria in the 2019 and 2023 Presidential elections.”
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