By Ihie Grace
Alarge crowd of aggrieved Nigerians are currently protesting at the popular Unity Fountain in the nation’s capital, Abuja, over alleged manipulation of the 2023 general elections.
The placards-carrying protesters vowed to shut down the country over what they described as daylight robbery by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in connivance with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to subvert the will of Nigerians in the just concluded elections.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Isaac Balami accused the electoral body of breaking the peace accord signed by the political parties by going ahead to declare the APC Candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as winner while millions of results had not yet been uploaded on the INEC Election Results Viewing Portal (IReV).
He said they were ready to defend their mandate with the last drop of their blood just as he called for the total cancellation of the elections.
The protesters also called on the United Nations to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that justice was done irrespective of whose ox was gored.
Roundoff news media also gathered that many protesters were mobilising from different states to converge on Abuja until their demands were met.
As of the time of filing this report, some foreign election observers and diplomatic corps were sighted at the venue of the protest to observe the protest.
Also armed security operatives including the Nigerian police, Department of State Services (DSS), the Civil Defence Corps and others had been stationed within and around the venue of the protest to forestall possible breakdown of law and order.