The United States-Nigeria Law Group, an election observer initiative has stated that most of the issues that troubled the 2019 general election were deliberately contrived to assist the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to retain power at the centre.

In its assessment report of the 2019 general elections, the observer group alleged that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration violated the constitution of Nigeria, which guarantees their independence from interference.

According to a statement signed by Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe and released over the weekend, the group posited that from its findings, while the electorate prepared for elections, it was as though the incumbent president was preparing a military operation.

For example, the group noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced inconclusive elections in six states out of which PDP was reportedly leading in all but one.

“This is highly suggestive and unsettling all by itself. However, there are further indications that similar results in states in which the APC was leading were not declared inconclusive.

“Some states where a rerun was illogical, because the mathematical probabilities could not conceivably produce a different outcome have still been scheduled for rerun.

“The principle on cancelled votes versus margin of victory, which ostensibly informed the inconclusive declarations in state elections, was not uniformly applied in the presidential elections.

“So far the following states have been declared inconclusive, the most ever in Nigerian history – Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Sokoto, Kano and Bauchi states.

“It is especially noteworthy that in the case of Kano State, the PDP was overwhelmingly  leading when the Deputy Governor seized and tore the results of the last local government to be declared.

“This brazen act of brigandage was caught on video and is perhaps emblematic of how the election results overall have been hijacked,” the statement added.

On the postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections from February 16 to 23, the group said its investigations and analysis indicated that the action was orchestrated by the ruling party based on its dissatisfaction with judiciary pronouncements on cases affecting its candidates.

The observer group maintained that the Buhari regime had unambiguously expressed its displeasure with both the judiciary and INEC for not delivering its preferred candidates as shown in the pattern of desperation and constitutional violations.