Peter Obi, has described the Supreme Court judgment which confirmed Tinubu as winning the 2023 presidential election, as sacrificing justice for political expediency.
By Emeka Alex Duru
The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has described the Supreme Court judgment which confirmed Bola Ahmed Tinubu of All Progressives Congress (APC) as winning the 2023 presidential election, as being contrary to the expectation of Nigerians in sacrificing justice for political expediency. Obi noted that 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.
The decision, he maintained, 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 the election matter. According to the LP candidate, 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”.
He added that without equivocation, the judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in the 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”, he stated.
Obi made the declaration at a press conference in Abuja, on Monday. The LP standard bearer however said as democrats, he, the Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, have exhausted all legal means to challenge the 2023 general elections.
He noted that the party is now ready to take the message of a new Nigeria to the grassroots.
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Obi spoke in similar vein with his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, who had earlier taken a critical look at the Supreme Court judgement of October 6, validating the election of Tinubu and described it as a bad omen for the development of democracy in the country.
Atiku who made the declaration at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, October 30, stated that the negative impacts of the judgement would reverberate beyond the Tinubu administration to future elections in the country. Among the effects of the judgement, he said, is the erosion of trust in Nigeria’s electoral system, arguing that with the turn of events, it would be difficult to convince Nigerians to vote in future elections, knowing that their choice may not prevail, after all.
Atiku added that with the endorsement of Tinubu by the apex court, politicians are in future, free to do anything to win, knowing that the courts will uphold their victory. The judgement, he emphasised, will encourage resort to self-help by contestants, violence and anarchy.