…Says Democracy Main Victim Of Court Ruling On Presidential Poll Appeals
…Presidency Advises Obi To Play Opposition Role, Prepare For 2027 Election
KINGSLEY BENNETH; INNOCENT OWEH; JOY ANIGBOGU
Barely two weeks after the Supreme Court ended the controversy surrounding the outcome of the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Labour Party (LP) candidate in the poll, Peter Obi, has lambasted the apex court judgment as “a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary.”
Addressing the press in Abuja on Monday, Obi said the country’s democracy was the main victim and casualty of the court’s decision.
Recall that on October 26, the Supreme Court had ended the 171-day legal tussle to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu with the rejection of appeals filed by Obi and Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election.
But Obi said that the Supreme Court exhibited a disturbing aversion to public opinion just as it abandoned its responsibility as a court of law and policy.
The former governor of Anambra State claimed that the court’s ruling went against the overwhelming evidence of election rigging, false claim of a technical glitch, substantial non-compliance with rules set by INEC itself as well as matters of perjury, identity theft, and forgery that have been brought to light in the course of the election matter.
This is as he lampooned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as having displayed incompetence in its statutory duty.
Though he and his running mate, Dati Baba-Ahmed, strongly disagree with the Supreme Court and the tribunal’s rulings regarding the election’s outcome, he acknowledged that the apex court represents the last resort in the pursuit of legal resolution.
Obi further reiterated his commitment to building a new and better Nigeria, declaring that his mission and mandate remain unchanged.
“Datti and I have now exhausted all legal and constitutional remedies available to us.
“As someone who has previously benefited from the rulings of the Supreme Court on electoral matters, I have, after a period of deep and sober reflection, decided to personally and formally react to the recent judgment as most Nigerians have.
“Because we are confronted with very weighty issues of national interest, I will speak forthrightly. As students, young lads at CKC, Onitsha, we were taught values and admonished to always “choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong.
“More appalling, the Supreme Court judgment willfully condoned breaches of the constitution relative to established qualifications and parameters for candidates in presidential elections.
“With this counter-intuitive judgment, the Supreme Court has transferred a heavy moral burden from the courtrooms to our national conscience. Our young democracy is ultimately the main victim and casualty of the courtroom drama.
“Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary. To that extent, it is a show of unreasonable force against the very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Constitution derives. This Supreme Court ruling may represent the state of the law in 2023 but not the present demand for substantive justice.
“The judgment mixed principles and precepts. Indeed, the rationale and premise of the Supreme Court judgment have become clearer in the light of the deep revealing and troubling valedictory remarks by Hon. Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad (JSC) on Friday 27th October 2023.
“Where the value and import of the recent Supreme Court ruling ends is where our commitment to a new Nigeria begins. This end is only another beginning in our quest for the vindication of the hope of the common man for a better country. After all, sovereignty belongs to the people! If only for historical purposes, it behooves us to place our disagreement with and deep reservations about this judgment on public record.
“From the very onset, our mission has been more about enthroning a new Nigeria. It is a new nation where things work,” he added.
In the lead judgment delivered by the chairman of the seven-man panel, Justice Inyang Okoro, the apex court refused to consider the academic records of the president obtained from the Chicago State University, which Atiku sought to tender as fresh evidence to prove his allegation of certificate forgery against the ex-Lagos governor.
The other justices on the panel, Uwani Aji, Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani, and Emmanuel Agim, agreed with the lead judgment dismissing Atiku and Obi’s appeals.
The LP candidate was, however, quick to add that it gladdened his heart to know the alleged rationale behind the judgment, which was eventually brought to light during the troubling valedictory remarks by Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad on October 27.
He said, “Setting legal issues aside, the Supreme Court exhibited a disturbing aversion to public opinion just as it abandoned its responsibility as a court of law and policy.
“It is, therefore, with great dismay I observe that the court’s decision contradicts the overwhelming evidence of election rigging, false claim of a technical glitch, substantial non-compliance with rules set by INEC itself as well as matters of perjury, identity theft, and forgery that have been brought to light in the course of this election matter.
“These were hefty allegations that should not to be treated with levity. More appalling, the Supreme Court judgment willfully condoned breaches of the constitution relative to established qualifications and parameters for candidates in presidential elections. With this counter-intuitive judgment, the Supreme Court has transferred a heavy moral burden from the courtrooms to our national conscience. Our young democracy is ultimately the main victim and casualty of the courtroom drama.”
Presidency Asks Obi To Desist From Casting Aspersions On The Judiciary
Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has reacted to statements credited to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, saying it was unfortunate that he was casting aspersions on the judiciary which gave him victory as governor of Anambra State.
Replying Obi, Onanuga said the presidency is at a loss as to how the copy-cat Obi and his faction of Labour Party convinced themselves they won an election in which they came a distant third.
He advised that Obi and his party should come to terms with the Supreme Court judgment and start playing the role of the opposition and start preparing for another shot at the presidency in 2027.
According to the presidential aide, they are optimistic that by then he would campaign on issues and not whip up religious and ethnic sentiments as he did in the last campaign.
The presidential aide also said the grand delusion that made Mr. Obi believe he could have won a national election where he ran the most hateful, divisive and polarising campaign that pitched Christians against Muslims and one ethnic group against the other in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like Nigeria should be a matter for deeper examination.
He accused Obi of addressing a press conference earlier Monday, where he tried, in vain, to gaslight Nigerians with false claims and innuendos, noting that he (Obi) contradicted himself.
“Here was a beneficiary of judicial pronouncements in the past now castigating the same court because its judgment did not go his way.
“Mr. Obi claimed the Supreme Court Justices didn’t consider public opinion in delivering what has been applauded as a most profound judgment in an election appeal where the Labour Party candidate presented the most watery and unreasonable petition before any court in the history of electoral cases in Nigeria.
“He made false allegations of rigging and other electoral malpractices yet could not produce any evidence to back up his claims at both the court of first instance and at the apex court. In a failed effort to mobilise and retain the support of his supporters, Obi gave them a forlorn hope that he won the election and would prove it before the courts. Throughout the trial, his lawyers didn’t present any alternative results different from the results INEC uploaded on the IReV portal and the ones signed by all party agents from the 176,000 polling units.
“We wonder how the Labour Party candidate expected the courts to do justice on the basis of rumours, lies and false narratives by sponsored partisans and fanatical members of his Obidient Movement.
“We expected the Labour Party candidate to know that the Supreme Court or any other court does not give judgment based on public opinion and mob sentiments. Judicial pronouncements are based on evidence, precedents and the rule of law,” Onanuga stated.
He added that having admitted that the Supreme Court ruling brought an end to litigation and any challenge to the bona fide of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the validly elected leader of Nigeria and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Obi should have congratulated President Tinubu for his victory and pledge his support, in the spirit of statesmanship.
He said again, “But instead, he brought up extraneous matters that he thought the apex court should have considered to declare him the winner. In our view, the drowning Obi, just like Atiku, was merely attempting to hold on to a straw in raking up new allegations, which exist only in his imagination and that of his hordes of supporters.
“Our admonition to Mr. Peter Obi is to find another worthwhile vocation to engage his time henceforth, having been rejected by majority of Nigerians who didn’t consider him qualified to lead our country.
“Nigerians rejected Peter Obi and his demagoguery at the poll because he posed present and future danger to the peace, progress and stability of our country.
“Obi’s antecedents as governor of Anambra for eight years didn’t inspire any confidence as someone capable of running a country like Nigeria. No tangible records of achievement in the state he governed recommended him for the presidency of Nigeria.
“If Mr. Peter Obi truly believes in Nigeria, the time to prove it is now when all men and women of goodwill are rallying support for President Tinubu in his determination to lead a new era of prosperity, inclusive governance and economic growth in Nigeria.
“Finally, we welcome Obi and his party to play the role of the opposition and start preparing for another shot at the presidency in 2027. We hope by then he would campaign on issues and not whip up religious and ethnic sentiments as he did in the last campaign”.
