Politics
By Victoria Frances
MIXED reactions have trailed the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT, upholding the controversial February 25 election of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the president of Nigeria. The reactions depict the great division in the Nigerian polity with positive and negative comments showing the political leanings of Nigerians. There are also independent minded Nigerians without political leaning who feel indifferent, elated and others who feel largely betrayed by the five judges of the PEPT.
The election was challenged at the tribunal by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party, LP, majorly on the ground that the election was massively rigged and the grand norms established by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, grossly breached. Realnews reports that the presidential election was characterized by violence with INEC, which advertised that it will stream live results from polling units failing to do so at the nick of time because of what it described as technical hitch which did not effect the transmission of National Assembly result which held same day as presidential election same time.
However, the PEPT on Wednesday, September 6, dismissed both PDP and LP cases and pronounced hefty fine on the for wasting the time of the court in a live broadcast that did not show the faces of the judges, who read out a 12-hour monotonous judgement that sent some lawyers and senior advocate Nigeria, SAN, and journalist sleeping in the court room.
Both LP and PDP have rejected the judgement of the tribunal while APC led by Tinubu is happy over the development.
Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of the LP, in a statement shortly after the judgment on Wednesday, September 6, said that justice was not served.
He said the party would consult its legal team and decide on the next line of action.
Ifoh said, “The Labour Party watched with dismay and trepidation the dismissal of petitions by the five-man panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court led by Justice Haruna Tsammani today and we reject the outcome of the judgment in its entirety because justice was not served and it did not reflect the law and the desire of the people.
“We salute the doggedness of our team of lawyers who fearlessly exposed the wrath in our system. We can only weep for democracy in Nigeria but we refuse to give up on Nigeria.
“Details of the party’s position will be presented after consultation with our lawyers after the Certified True Copy of the judgement.
The Peoples Democratic party, PDP, has rejected the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, judgment affirming the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the Feb. 25 presidential election.
The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said that the judgment was against reason, facts and evidence presented in court.
“As a party, we have had an initial review of the judgment as delivered by the PEPC and we unequivocally reject the said Judgement in its entirety.
“The judgment is against reason, against the facts and evidence presented in Court; against the relevant Electoral Laws, Guidelines and Regulations as well as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“Indeed, the judgment is generous in technicalities and very short in delivering substantial justice in the matter,” he said.
Ologunagba said that the PDP, as a law-abiding political party would, with its lawyers, have a comprehensive review of the judgment and decide on the next line of action within the ambit of the law.
Reacting, President Tinubu, in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, his media aide, assured Nigerians of his renewed and energized focus on delivering his vision of a unified, peaceful and prosperous nation, following the judgement by the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja.
“President Tinubu welcomes the judgment of the court with an intense sense of solemn responsibility and preparedness to serve all Nigerians, irrespective of all diverse political persuasions, faiths, and tribal identities.
“The president recognizes the diligence, undaunted thoroughness and professionalism of the five-member bench, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani in interpreting the law.
“The president affirms that his commitment to the rule of law, and the unhindered discharge of duties by the Court, as witnessed in the panel’s exclusive respect for the merits of the petitions brought forward, further reflects the continuing maturation of Nigeria’s legal system, and the advancement of Africa’s largest democracy at a time when our democratic system of government is under test in other parts of the continent”, he said.
The president expressed belief that the presidential candidates and political parties that have lawfully exercised their rights by participating in the 2023 general elections and the judicial process which followed, have affirmed Nigeria’s democratic credentials.
Nonetheless, prominent Nigerians have reacted to this with some condemning the court for basing their judgement on technicalities while some on the wining side commended the judges for doing a thorough job.
Goddy Uwazuruike, a lawyer and former president of Aka Ikenga, said the judgement “today showed that justice is lying prostrate while technicality stood triumphant over it. Indeed, the PEPT relied on technicality in analysing the trial including the evidence of the witnesses. To be blunt, the Tribunal failed to realize that it (judiciary) was on trial in the court of the people. The people expected that the verification of the scores will be a primary duty of the Tribunal.”
According to Uwazuruike, “People expected that the Tribunal will order the “Independent” INEC will be truly independent. INEC bluntly refused to produce the documents used in the election and the Tribunal did nothing. This amounted to unfair trial because the defense decided the evidence that will be available, not withstanding the Notice to Produce served on it and the reassurance of chair that it will comply.
“In the end, the tribunal ruled that the petitioner failed to prove his case. This Tribunal failed to respond to the question, WHO WON? Those who benefit from injustice see nothing wrong in the system.
World over, the judiciary does not rely on technicality. It relies on substantial justice, on what the people understand. Those who were beaten up during the election, those who were denied the right to vote, those who witnessed the mutilation of results are still wondering.. what happened? Election judgment based on technicality is naked injustice,” he said.
On her part, Onyeka Onwenu, renown singer and actress and former director general of National Women Development Center, said “Nigeria is finished. We will not survive this. Faith is obliterated and trust shattered. We have no constitution or the semblance of one. This is what we have bequeathed to our children and grandchildren. There was a country. Now it is gone.”
Against the background that the PEPT disappointed many Nigerians who were disenfranchised, Onwenu said: “Every sector of our society, the very fabric of our existence, supposedly protected by our laws has been shredded. If there was any moral backbone left in the thread of this nation called Nigeria, any bit of decency and integrity that we could point to, it has been shattered. Can we build it back?”
“Nigerian people just got the rug pulled off from under them. What are we now standing on? There are absolutely no pretenses about the judgement that was handed. It was daylight robbery. We have nothing to stand on now and nothing to hide under. They just handed over Nigeria to the APC. We may never get it back,” she said.
Contrarily, Chekwas Okorie, former national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, said: “I am not surprised at the outcome of the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. I took the time to read through the petitions of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of Labour Party before now. I was satisfied that the Petitioners failed woefully to specify the polling units or collation centers where they were denied lawful votes which could have earned either of them victory at the polls.”
“Rather than prove a case of substantial non compliance with the electoral law, they seemed to have relied on scoring technical points to win their petitions. Their strategy failed”, Okorie said while congratulating Tinubu.
On his part, Femi Falana, a lawyer and activists, opined that the recent judgement by the tribunal is not final and parties involved are still free to approach the Supreme Court for further appeals. Falana said there is no election petition that has attracted such attention in the country since colonial rule. “We have been having election petitions since the colonial era, but none has attracted such level of blackmail and intimidation of the judiciary.
Whatever, David Adeleke, popular Nigerian artiste, professionally known as Davido, has a thought provoking advise for those who want to contest election in future. He said that elections in Nigeria are won by the most “rugged” candidates. The singer made the remark via his platform X page, on Wednesday.
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-September. 06, 2023 @ 14:34 GMT |
Tags: Aka Ikenga Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Chekwas Okorie David Adeleke Femi Falana Goddy Uwazuruike INEC Onyeka Onwenu Victoria Frances
