The Labour Party’s campaign organization has dismissed the speculation that its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, went into hiding after his defeat at the Supreme Court.
The legal fight to overturn President Bola Tinubu’s election came to an end on Thursday as the Supreme Court dismissed the election appeals filed by Obi and the Peoples Democratic Party’s standard bearer, Atiku Abubakar, after 171 days.
As per the main verdict issued by the Chairman of the seven-man panel, Justice Inyang Okoro, the highest court declined to consider the academic records of the President obtained from Chicago State University, which Atiku attempted to introduce as new evidence to substantiate his accusation of certificate forgery against the former governor of Lagos.
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The rest of the justices on the panel, including Uwani Aji, Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani, and Emmanuel Agim, all agreed with the lead judgment, which rejected the appeals of Atiku and Obi.
Amidst the uproar in response to the verdict from both the leadership and supporters of the LP, a large number of Nigerians had expected Obi to express his views on the judgment.
The noticeable silence 24 hours after the judgment led to speculations among social media users that the former Anambra governor might have retreated or was still struggling with the pain of the loss.
Attempts to contact Obi’s media aide, Tai Emeka Obasi following the Supreme Court ruling were also fruitless. At the time of submitting this report, his phone remained unreachable.
Meanwhile, the representative of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, refuted the rumors, emphasizing that unknown to many, the LP candidate had left the country long before the arrival of the Supreme Court notice.