The Arewa Consultative Forum has urged the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to concede victory to President Muhammadu Buhari, who was declared the winner of the February 23 presidential election.
The group made the call in a statement issued by ACF National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim-Biu. He said Atiku should congratulate the winner and accept the will of the people.
“The ACF salutes the courage of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for putting up a gallant fight with an impressive performance in the presidential elections.
“The forum calls on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP as a committed democrat who cherishes peaceful democratic transition, to accept the will of the people, concede defeat and congratulate President Buhari on his well deserved victory at the just concluded elections.
“Especially as there are credible evidence that the elections have been generally peaceful, free and fair. Such concession on the part of the main challenger would be in the overall interest of Nigeria and place him among global democrats.”
ACF also saluted “resilient Nigerians for their personal sacrifices to not only exercise their franchise by voting candidates of their choice but also to ensure that their votes got counted.
“We equally salute other stakeholders, especially the National Peace Committee of General Abdusalami Abubakar, foreign and domestic election observers and many others for their wise counsel and commitment to peaceful election.”
