TheCable

Kashim Shettima, the vice president-elect, says the presidential election is the freest and fairest ever conducted in the country.

Shettima called on Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), to accept the outcome of the poll.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa on Wednesday, he said it is important for them to “join forces to rescue our country” to avert anarchy.

“In my own understanding, this is the most free and fair election ever conducted like the one on Saturday. It was conducted according to what the law says,” Shettima said.

“I believe those who are calling for the cancellation of the polls haven’t come out to explain to the people where there were mistakes during the polls.

“Our candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu lost his state Lagos and also Ikeja which is his local government, we didn’t say anything.

“The president since 2003 has never lost in Katsina state, but in this election, he lost and we didn’t say anything.

“You see in Abia they said we got 8,914, and the LP candidate they said got 302,795. We didn’t say anything because we believe it’s God who gives power and we have to accept the outcome of the election.

“The Labour Party won in Abuja, they were on top in Nasarawa state, they won in Plateau state. In Imo, where we have a sitting governor, we got about sixty-something thousand.

“Therefore, they (the opposition) should accept the outcome of the polls and accept that it’s God who gives power.

“The best thing to do is for us to come together and join forces to rescue our country. I have a strong feeling that Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president and Mr Peter Obi won’t want our country to go into chaos or be destroyed.”