Mamman Daura, nephew of President Muhammadu Buhari has claimed that the presidential elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011 were massively rigged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Speaking in a documentary on the president titled “Essential Muhammadu Buhari”, Daura claimed that the consistent rigging and lack of trust in the electoral system is one of the reasons Buhari “broke down” during his presidential campaign in 2011.
Recall that in one of his campaign meetings in 2011, Buhari said it would be his third and last attempt at the presidency. “I will not present myself again for election into the office of the president,” he had said wiping tears from his eyes.
Daura however claimed in the documentary that Buhari did not break down in tears because he was worried about defeat, rather “he broke down in pity for the system (electoral) in the country.”
The President’s nephew further stated that he knows that the three elections were rigged because he approached Buhari’s lawyer after the 2007 election to demand the results of some states.
He also said that the widespread rigging made Buhari enter a merger with other political parties in 2013.
Daura added;
“…He gave me the one for Imo State. I went over the result carefully and I saw PDP, Yar’Adua – 25,000 votes and Buhari – 5,000, and so on. All round figures throughout. Even the winner of the election, Yar’Adua had said the election was faulty.”
The claim was backed by President Muhammadu Buhari in the documentary. According to the Nigerian leader, the PDP “were so confident that nobody could remove them and they were also not careful.”
He also recalled how his former party, Congress for Progressives Change, convinced political players like Bola Tinubu of the then All Nigeria Peoples Party and Rochas Okorocha from a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance – to form a merger that resulted in the APC that eventually delivered victory for him in the 2015 general elections.