A Yoruba Group, Conscience of the Yoruba Nation, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari, to ignore the call for the cancellation of the elections by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Director General of the group, Abagun Kole Omololu, in a statement made available to newsmen in Akure, said that ” our mandate must not be aborted again by the call for the cancellation of the elections.

Omololu, said that With a sense of responsibility, we, in the Conscience of the Yoruba Nation, asked Chief Obasanjo, to perish that thought.

The group, also kicked against the statement by the former Head of State and Chairman of National Peace Committee, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, on the alleged irregularities and malpractices in the elections.

“We receive the statements of the two elder statesmen with utter disappointment, especially at a time when all Nigerians at home and in the diaspora are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the process, which different foreign observation missions have relatively adjudged credible and transparent.

“Specifically, Obasanjo’s statement is nothing, but a call for undue interference in the constitutional responsibilities of the INEC. Under the 1999 Constitution and 2022 Electoral Act, the election process is clear.

“The laws give INEC the exclusive power to perform its functions without interference from any person, institution or any arm of government.

“INEC was still preoccupied with its responsibilities when Obasanjo called for the cancellation of the process. We seriously take exception to this position, which we strongly believe,is antithetical to the peripheral, strategic and vital interests of Nigeria.

“It is on record that Obasanjo conducted the election that produced former President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007. The process was then adjudged the worst election in the recent history of Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari, who then contested the election on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, was a victim of that process.

“He never cancelled the process even when it suffered all the yardsticks of a credible and transparent process.

Contrarily, international observers are witnesses to the ongoing process.

“For instance, Commonwealth Observer Group under the chairmanship of former South African President Thabo Mbeki has rated it “largely peaceful” despite administrative and logistics hurdles at many polling units.

“Likewise, ECOWAS Observation Mission described the elections as generally peaceful and transparent.

“As observed in the election results declared, the use of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System has brought credibility into the process.

“With BVAS, APC lost Lagos, the home state of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to LP. Nobody complained about it. With BVAS, APC also lost Katsina, the home of President Muhammadu Buhari, to PDP. For them, it is all well.

“What else does Obasanjo want? He is partisan in this process. He endorsed the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi.

” He, therefore, lacks moral authority to provide guidance for the electoral regulatory institution. If his candidate loses the election, he should accept in good faith and join hands with the new president-elect to move Nigeria forward.

“The collation of election results is still ongoing. INEC should be allowed, even encouraged, to continue with the process. We, therefore, stand by INEC to conclude the process in line with its mandate.

“We also challenge the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to declare any candidate that satisfies the requirements of the 1999 Constitution winner of the process to avoid another June 12 dilemma or any political contradiction that can truncate our democracy.

The group said that “Even though the process is not entirely credible, the solution is not to throw away the baby with baths water.

Omololu added that ” rather than resorting to extra-legal measures that can lead us to the regrettable path of people’s aborted mandate as witnessed after the June 12, 1993 election, we urge any aggrieved candidate to seek redress in the Election Petition Tribunal in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and 2022 Electoral Act.