Would May 29 prove to be a bridge too far? I hope and pray not.
By Tiko Okoye
The inauguration of the sixth Executive President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is scheduled to hold about 14 days from today. But is it? Considering the incendiary altercation, controversies and pyrotechnics that have attended this year’s occasion, a Johnny-Just-Come (JJC) to Nigeria would be forgiven for thinking that this would be the first presidential inauguration Nigerians would be witnessing.
One cannot but agree with the poignant observation of American historian and scholar to the effect that “Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organisation of hatreds.” Let me categorically state without any fear or favour that the huge question marks and threats that have arisen in the wake of the impending inauguration all have to do with one man: Bola Tinubu!
It is very tempting to say that his detractors – majorly Christians and mostly from the South-East and South-South – derive their loathing from the Muslim-Muslim ticket he ran on. But, if we are truly honest with ourselves, the ‘hatred’ started right from the 2015 election cycle, when he successfully pushed Muhammadu Buhari across the finishing line after the latter’s three failed solo efforts, incensing indigenes of the South-South where the defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan hails from and the South-East where he had been adopted as “Brother Jona-Azikiwe.”
As a matter of fact, the outcome of every presidential election in Nigeria has been bitterly contested in courts. The only difference this time around is that it’s the first time ever that the demand for the presidential inauguration to be delayed until after all cases have been disposed of by the courts rose from an isolated whimper to a rolling thunder.
Those demanding that the President-elect not be sworn in by the Chief Justice of Nigeria because he has not satisfied the provision of the constitution are chiefly concerned that once Tinubu is declared President he will control the Court and foster a travesty of justice, just like his predecessors allegedly did. They claim that their action is borne of a desperation to make the Judiciary expeditiously rule on the case “as soon as possible” in order to boost public confidence that the Judiciary is capable of delivering justice.
READ ALSO: How Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election was manipulated in Tinubu’s favour – BBC News
Many things are wrong with this line of argument. First, it’s out of whack with existing laws. Second, Tinubu is deemed to have satisfied all requirements by the only body the constitution and the electoral act recognise as the one with the statutory mandate to so pronounce – INEC. Third, accepting the stance of those itching for the inauguration would only amount to postponing the “evil day.” If Tinubu loses at the Tribunal, he would appeal to the Supreme Court – quite worrisome for time-bound suits.
Fourth, what if Tinubu loses at the Tribunal but goes on to win at the apex court? The foregoing scenarios would needlessly extend the period of uncertainty and national haemorrhaging when what is mostly required is national healing, particularly in the latter case where the likelihood of instability is higher, as internet graffiti bullies who control social media space disseminate false and fake conspiracy theories about a corrupted and compromised Judiciary.
Section 285 of the constitution clearly prescribes 180 days for dealing with election petitions at the court of first instance – the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal/appeal court. If there’s an appeal, the petitioner/appellant has additional 60 days in the Supreme Court, making about eight months all together. This is even two months shorter than the case of governorship election petition which starts at the tribunal/high court stage, 60 days in the Court of Appeal and 60 days in the Supreme Court.
The solution to any delay in resolving presidential election petitions definitely does not lie in suddenly waking up to loudly demand that the inauguration be postponed. It is wrong to change the rules or shift the goal post when the game is already in progress. The Nigerian constitution and our laws reflect a zero-tolerance for the oddity and nullity of legal rulings and policy decisions being applied retroactively.
And when you reconsider the matter, it gives cause for great bewilderment that those now calling on outgoing President Buhari to end all further discussion by abruptly postponing the swearing-in of his successor are the very same ones bashing him as an autocrat for much of his nearly eight-year tenure. Paradoxically, what they now consider ‘fire on the mountain’ has forced them to display their true undemocratic nature, as they selfishly seek to pressurise the same Buhari into issuing a highly contentious executive fiat.
But the crème fraiche indisputably goes to the members of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) USA who, while expressing disapproval of calls for the extension of Buhari’s tenure or the imposition of an interim national government, nevertheless sat in judgement over the Nigerian electoral and jurisprudential systems, even as they urged the US to withhold any recognition of an incoming Tinubu administration until the Supreme Court has “thoroughly and transparently examined the 2023 election,” given what they claimed to be “the widespread discontent and rejection of the flawed electoral process by Nigerians and observers at home and abroad.” Phew!
One can understand malicious attempts by some foreign individuals and organisations to rationalise the failure of their “pre-election polling” to pan out as they had predicted, but it isn’t as if actual election results have never been at variance with public opinion polls, including even exit polls, in Europe and America or is this just a case of stereotyping a shithole African country?
The irony is also lost on these self-appointed crusaders that even the American President they are conferring with non-existent jurisdiction over Nigeria is having far worse election-related challenges in his own country. Or is anyone suggesting that election-related mayhem surpasses what Trump is fanning in the US?
Nearly three years after the 2020 presidential election results were declared – and the winner inaugurated – Donald Trump and his MAGA enablers are still insisting that the election was “stolen” from them. Furthermore, many state legislatures with a Republican absolute majority are busy passing laws aimed at influencing the outcomes of future elections by preventing specific groups of people from voting or making it extremely hard for their votes to count – voter suppression and intimidation. Shouldn’t nakedness be asked to describe what she’s wearing before rushing to request a gift of clothing from her?
I know most Christians would bristle at the very thought of it, but I’m left with no other conclusion, after perusing the trajectory Tinubu took before, during and after the polls to emerge as the President-elect, that he’s divinely ordained. It is an open secret that Tinubu wrestled with, and overcame, ‘principalities and powers’ within and outside his party with powerful links all the way to Aso Villa. It is this sentiment that Tinubu’s opponents are trying to capitalize on by providing Buhari a justification to brusquely throw a spanner in the works.
My detailed study of the Bible clearly confirmed what Rev. Joshua Iginla, founder and senior pastor of the Champions Royal Assembly, had insinuated during the run-up to the presidential election – that Tinubu would emerge the winner, given the snowballing hatred that became his lot. Truth’s that when men try to play God, the Almighty Himself chooses to lift up the underdog – the person, tribe or nation most hated by a preponderance of people.
Examples include the experiences of Abraham/Esau/Jacob, Jacob/Rachel/Leah, Elkanah/Hannah/Peninnah and Elders of Gilead/Jephthah, among many others. Where’s our famed Christian love? Don’t the Scriptures aver that God chose to demonstrate the Gospel’s message of love by “sending His only begotten son Jesus Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners”?
And Christians wishing for Tinubu to die before his inauguration should be very careful what they wish for. We are all required to pray for our leaders, not to wish them evil – same as the Biblical injunction to unconditionally honour our mother and father. We are not required to dishonour them when a k-leg exists such as the mother being a prostitute and the father being an armed robber. We simply pray for them. God is the only absolute Judge in a position to deal with a non-compliant leader.
Popular Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Chinenye Oluoma, once berated Christians who go about saying that “when grace is at work, all protocols are suspended and when favour speaks for you, qualification and certification are not needed, yet the same persons burn with incandescent anger and hate when someone without qualification or certification becomes a President, Governor, Inspector General of Police, Chief Justice or a Minister.” Quite un-Christian, won’t you admit?
Would May 29 prove to be a bridge too far? I hope and pray not.
