The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, says the presidential election results were accredited by both international and local observers, to be in conformity with the law.
He stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“The presidential election results were widely accredited by the observers to be in conformity with the law. The European Union, ECOWAS Commission, the African Union all said that they were satisfied with what they saw,” he stated.
According to Fashola, the election that saw President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerge the winner against Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is what he described as the voters’ choice.
Although the elections have come and gone, he believes that any aggrieved party should be free to challenge the result in court.
The Minister noted that APC’s victory at the polls is a clear demonstration that the people believe in the current administration.
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“What the people have voted for is what we have continued to canvass, that we are better than the other side. Our results over the last three and the half years show that we have moved a little forward and they have entrusted us with the mandate to consolidate on what we have done.”
Speaking on electoral reforms, Fashola said he would like to see a situation whereby politicians would discipline themselves to accept the outcome of elections.
He also wants the coming 9th National Assembly to work hard to ensure that reforms are made in the area of finances spent during elections.
This is because he believes the amount spent for a presidential candidate of a political party is at least one billion naira.
When asked on his plans to address the nation’s problems associated with power, the Minister identified distribution level as the main challenge of power.
“We set out short term goals in my ministry. First, we have delivered on incremental power and we will continue to increase.
“We are hopeful to see that at this next level of obligation, what we want to see is more of incremental power and stable power in some places. I can tell you of some states that have stable power today.
“Kebbi, Yobe are examples. Some have five, some have eight (hours). And even all of these is still a little fragile and we need to consolidate. The issues at the distribution end of metering, outdated assets. Some of these assets, when I went to Aba for example, the substation was installed in 1960 and there was expansion after that,” he added.
