FORMER Vice President Abubakar Atiku has rejected the result of the 2019 presidential election which was announced by Mahmood Yakubu, National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the early hours of Wednesday.

President Muhammadu Buhari was declared the winner of the polls having secured a total of 15,191,847 votes, representing over 56 per cent of the entire votes cast. Buhari won in 19 out of the 36 states of the federation and also got the required 25 per cent of votes in two-thirds of all states.

On the other hand, Atiku won in 17 states and the FCT, polling a total of 11,262, 978 votes or just over 42 per cent of the total votes.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, Atiku said he would be challenging the results declared by INEC in court as the process was massively rigged.

“If I had lost in a free and fair election, I would have called the victor within seconds of my being aware of his victory to offer not just my congratulations, but my services to help unite Nigeria by being a bridge between the North and the South,” Atiku stated.

“However, in my democratic struggles for the past three decades, I have never seen our democracy so debased as it was on Saturday, February 23, 2019.

“2007 was a challenge, but President Yar’Adua was remorseful. In 2019, it is sad to see those who trampled on democracy thumping their noses down on the Nigerian people.

“Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court.”

Already, Atiku’s party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the result of the elections, calling on Nigerians to disregard the results until INEC provides the data from the card reader accreditation at the polling units, and conduct fresh election in Borno, Yobe and Zamfara states.

In a letter signed by Deputy Director General of PDP Presidential Campaign Organization,  Tanimu Turaki, the party also called on INEC to restore its votes in Plateau, FCT, Kogi and Nasarawa states.