Following the judgment of the Supreme Court which affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, the major opposition parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) as well as a socio-political group, the National Rescue Congress (NRC) have expressed disappointment with the ruling.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that the apex court had in a unanimous judgment, on Tuesday dismissed the separate appeals filed by former vice president, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Mr. Peter Obi of the LP for lacking in merit.
Justice John Okoro who read the lead judgment that was unanimously supported by six other justices of the court affirmed the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which upheld the return and declaration of Tinubu as winner of the 25th of February election.
While Atiku and Obi had wanted Tinubu’s win to be nullified on the ground that he did not get 25 percent FCT votes, the Appeal Court ruled that their petition was immaterial. The Supreme Court agreed with the PEPC that a candidate does not need to get at least 25 percent Federal Capital Territory (FCT) votes to be declared as the country’s president.
Delivering judgment in Atiku’s appeal, Justice Okoro struck out the allegation by Atiku that failure to promptly upload the polling unit results of the election to IReV amounted to non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, thus, invalidating the election.
It held that Atiku did not prove that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not substantially comply with provisions of the Electoral Act in the conduct of the election.
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However, the PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the opposition party and indeed majority of Nigerians were alarmed, disappointed and gravely concerned with the reasoning of the Supreme Court.
He said the PDP believed the judgment was against the express provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended); the Electoral Act, 2022; and the Guideline and Regulation issued by INEC under which the election was conducted.
‘The PDP asserts that it is indeed a sad commentary for our democracy that the Supreme Court failed to uphold the provisions of the law.
‘Instead, it trashed the expectation of the majority of Nigerians who looked up to it as a temple of impartiality to deliver substantial justice in the matter having regards to the laws and facts of the case.
‘Nigerians earnestly expected the Supreme Court to uphold and defend the clear provisions of the 1999 Constitution in terms of qualification and minimum requirement for a winner to be declared in a Presidential election in Nigeria.
‘This is especially with regards to the required statutory 25 per cent of votes in the FCT as well as issues of violation of electoral Rules and Guidelines, brazen manipulations and alterations of election results by the All Progressives Congress (APC).’
Ologunagba said Nigerians were still at a loss as to how the Supreme Court condoned the “serious issues of forgery, falsehood and perjury on the altar of technicalities.”
Ologunagba said the general gloom, melancholy and sense of despondency across the country upon the delivery of the judgment was an ominous sign of an eerie situation which portend consequences because of the disappointment embedded in the judgment.
‘This judgment by the Supreme Court has evidently shaken the confidence of Nigerians in the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court as the last hope of the common man.’
Ologunagba, however, declared that the PDP remained undeterred and also charged Nigerians not to be discouraged or allow the judgment to detract from their collective quest for the entrenchment of a credible electoral system that could guarantee a government that derives its legitimacy from the people.
The LP expressed shock and surprise that the apex Court could toe the line of an earlier judgment of the PEPC in spite of all the flaws associated with it.
The National President, Julius Abure, in a statement, however, noted that there were great lessons to be learnt, adding that what transpired in Nigeria since the February 25 presidential election was a clear testament that Nigeria’s institutions were not working and the country may be sliding towards dictatorship.
‘The leadership of the Labour Party watched as the sacred fabric of justice and good conscience was shredded today at the Supreme Court as it delivered its verdict in the case between our party’s Presidential candidate and the APC presidential candidate.
‘Having conclusively exercised our fundamental rights as gifted to us by the laws of the land, we have no other choice but to move on.
‘We may be disappointed and dismayed by the outcome of the exercise but we have chosen to trudge on and to remain optimistic of what the future holds for the nation.
‘We weep for our institutions that cannot rise to the occasion and courageously defend democracy and the voices of our people.
‘However, there are great lessons to be learnt. What transpired in Nigeria since the February 25 presidential election is a clear testament that our institutions are not working and that we may be sliding towards dictatorship. It is very clear that the executive has hijacked both the judiciary and the legislature. This is so unfortunate for our democracy and it is even more for the people of Nigeria.
‘All what our forebears taught us has been destroyed within a short space of time because of the Unbridled ambition of a few. The founding fathers fought with their lives to achieve independence for the country. People lost their lives for the struggle to keep our democracy and all these years people have been struggling to achieve electoral and constitutional reforms. Regrettably, all of these efforts and struggles have been destroyed today
‘It is also pertinent to put on record that we have it on very good authority that the government may have marked some Labour Party’s key leaders, myself especially and our leader and presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, in particular for vilification, in order to suppress the party, suffocate our team, and our goal of a new Nigeria. The planned persecution, intimidation, suppression and harassment of our leaders using security agencies and all other government institutions will be definitely defended.’
The National Chairman therefore, called on all its members, and the Obidient family to be vigilant and brace up for the challenges ahead.
‘The struggle for a New Nigeria will certainly be tortuous and hard. We are also calling on the international community to rise to the occasion to defend democracy in Nigeria. Your voices were loud and clear in condemnation of the outcome of the presidential election. As we approach the next stage of our democratic journey, we call on you to stand by the millions of Nigerians who are already pushed beyond their limits into unnecessary hardship and penury.’
Group, National Rescue Congress (NRC) described the Supreme Court ruling as a black day for Nigerian democracy and the rule of law.
The group at a global press conference titled, “The State of the Nation and Call to Rescue Nigeria” held via Zoom platform rejected the judgment.
The host, Emmanuel Ihim lamented that “our nation is at a crossroad and we have seen it by ourselves. There is no retreat or going back. We need to decide whether we are going to fight for our freedom or not because freedom doesn’t just fall from heaven.
“Freedom has been contended, contested, and fought for. We can decide to fight to have our freedom back. God created every one of us free. No Nation, no Country can give us freedom. There is nowhere in the World where it is written in any constitution that freedom is given by the government. None.
“Freedom is a gift from God and we can decide to retrieve our freedom and live in a land that is free or we live in bondage. Thank God for the men and women who have fought for this country. Thank God for the men and women who are still standing for this Country.
“What is the value of life without freedom when Nigeria contributes 90 percent to insecurity, rated capital poverty if the world and our citizens are mocked all over the World because of bad leadership?
“A judgment may be said to be legal but that judgment may be immoral. Today’s judgment is contrary to human rights principles. This judgment is unjust and we reject it. In unison, we reject this judgment. In unison, we will stand against it”, he decried.
Also speaking during the conference, special guest, Prof. Chris Nwaokobi said, “we are confronted by a rogue regime, a rogue judiciary, and a rogue national assembly. We are confronted by men and women who have decided to diminish all the country stands for. We are not a country of forgers. We are confronted by forces of wickedness and witchcraft because they don’t care about Nigeria. So, we must stop agonising and begin to harmonise not necessarily for 2027 but for today.”