From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The Action Alliance (AA) has called for the nullification of the last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
This is even as the party expressed its readiness to challenge the conduct of the election at the Elections Petition Tribunal.
The party hinged its decisions on the exclusion of the party from the elections despite court orders that compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize the candidates submitted to it by the party’s national chairman, Dr Adekunle Rufai Omoaje.
After reviewing the exercise, national chairman of the party, Dr Omoaje declared that the party will approach the Elections Petition Tribunal to challenge both the presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday.
He said the flagrant disobedience of INEC and the rigid act of the commission’s chairman, Prof Mamood Yakubu are pointers that INEC was hellbent at ruining democracy in the country.
He said Prof Yakubu led INEC demonstrated rigidness and lack of respect for rule of law which is the pillar upon which democracy is built and therefore informed that the party has resolved to seek redress in court.
Omo-Aje, who sounded very serious and very determined, insisted his party has a good ground to pursue the case because there was no basis for excluding all his lawful candidates from the race, saying, since the court as an arbiter is there for the aggrieved people of the country, he is ready to approach it for succour.
Recalled that the aggrieved AA chairman called on all the members of the party to boycott the presidential and National Assembly polls held on February 25, 2023 over exclusion of the recognized candidates of the party from the polls.
He said “we have gone beyond the boycott as we have started preparations towards rigorous litigation for total nullification of the whole exercise since the authorities in charge of the election have refused to do the needful before embarking on the poll.”
Nonetheless, Omo-Aje has called on all members of the party, their loyalists and teeming supporters across the country and beyond to be calm and remain law-abiding, enthusing that, “at the end of the day, victory would be ascertained because of our belief and confidence in the Judiciary.”