PEPT verdict: miscarriage of justice, deliberate plot to kill democracy

From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha

A human rights group, Campaign for Democracy (CD), the in South East, has condemned the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), describing it as a miscarriage of justice and a deliberate plot to kill democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law in Nigeria.

The Five-Man PEPT panel had on September 6, 2023, affirmed Bola Ahmed Tinubu as duly elected President in the February 25 presidential election, dismissing Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) petitions.

In a statement by the leader of CD in South East, Mr Dede Uzor described the judgement as a miscarriage of justice and a deliberate plot to kill democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law in Nigeria.

The group said the judgment has made Nigerians lose hope in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man.

Uzor expressed shock that the Judges could not stick to the promise they made at the beginning of the trial that technicalities would not be allowed in deciding the petitions, saying that the same Judges went ahead to use technicalities to dismiss the cases.

He stated that the same Tribunal which rejected coverage of its proceedings by live telecast and television stations made a detour and deployed television live coverage during the judgment in an attempt to hoodwink Nigerians.

“By saying that the Independent National Independent (INEC), has the prerogative to use any method to announce election results was the easiest way to destroy free and fair electoral process in Nigeria by the Tribunal” the group stated.

CD noted that the judgement came even when the Electoral Act 2022 provided that INEC would use BVAS for the election and IREV for the transmission of results.

The group also said there were many questionable conclusions in the judgment, wondering whether the judgment was actually written by the Tribunal members or forced on them.

CD however asked the country’s apex Court to ensure that Nigeria’s Constitution and extant laws are not turned upside down upholding this
particular judgment.

The group called on the Supreme Court to preserve the sanctity of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by overturning the judgment of the Presidential Petition Panel.