2023 Election: Read Labour Party official statement at the World Press Conference

The Labour Party, in a statement read by Dr. Akin Osuntokun, DG of the Labour Party Campaign Council echoed thirteen (13) bullet points at the World Press Conference.

We wish to place the following on the record:

1. The President promised Nigerians free and fair elections with the passage of the new Electoral Act and, indeed has repeated this promise multiple times.
2. The INEC Chairman also came before Nigerians and the Global community to promise free and fair elections and severally reiterated its readiness to conduct the elections.
3. What has become glaring is that none of these promises has been kept. All promises about deploying a fail-safe system anchored on BVAS were broken.
4. The internet and social media are awash with videos and photographic pieces of evidence of the pervasive violence and attacks that were visited on Nigerians, with some attacks still ongoing across the country as we speak.
5. The evidence of collusion between INEC and the security forces to subvert the will of the people is too numerous to be detailed here.
6. The INEC guidelines on the conduct of the elections were extensively breached, and INEC has been very reluctant to make the necessary adjustment to remedy the situation.
7. Contrary to the publicly advertised guidelines for the conduct of the elections, we are convinced that the processes leading to the results have been severely compromised. Consequently, we state that we have lost confidence in the results being collated and announced.
8. Nigerians have inundated us with calls and protests over INEC’s non-compliance with provisions of the electoral guidelines and the obvious manipulations of the election results.
9. We, hereby, call on INEC to suspend the further announcement of the results, and follow its guidelines or completely cancel the entire election and make plans for another election with strict compliance with the stipulated laws and guidelines.
10. We ask the international community to walk their talk in Nigeria and cease to condone the multiple evils being perpetrated in our country by the rulers of Nigeria. There cannot be one standard for Nigeria and another for the rest of the world.
11. We thank Nigerians for their support for our candidates, and we assure you all that your mandate shall not be surrendered to a desperate gaggle of failed rulers, who have brought nothing but ruination on our dear country.
12. We urge that Nigerians remain peaceful and law-abiding, whilst assured that we are doing everything within the law to protect your sacred mandate.
13. Thank you, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.