•How Jonathan’s men failed to use court to stop result announcement
President Goodluck Jonathan conceded victory to Muhammadu Buhari on March 31, a first in Africa’s most populous country, but there are new details of how Jonathan’s henchmen had attempted to procure a court judgment to stop Attahiru Jega from announcing the result of the ballot held three days earlier.
Jega, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, came under severe pressure from all sides, culminating on March 31 in the live drama staged on global television by former Niger Delta Minister, Godsday Orubebe – during which Jega kept his cool.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, some of whom were neck deep in the plot to block the victory of Buhari, have since defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
They have been put on notice by APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, not to expect a rosy accommodation.
Failed legal plot
A legal practitioner based in Abuja disclosed that, before Orubebe’s last ditch effort, a cabal tried to obtain a court injunction when it was becoming obvious that Buhari was coasting home to victory.
The source said he was in the South East when he was asked to proceed to Abuja immediately.
“When I arrived Abuja that Tuesday [March 31] I was commissioned to look for a court judge who would grant an order restraining Jega from making further announcements regarding release of results of the presidential election from the states.
“I demanded that such a judge, if found, must be settled fully, including his pension and gratuity before he would make the order,” he said.
“We were supposed to fly the judge out of the country because we knew that any judge who took the risk and granted that injunction would not survive for a few days in Nigeria.
“Though I tried so hard, it was not possible to get any judge to agree to do the job.”
The lawyer said he approached a senior colleague in Lagos, a foremost human rights and pro-democracy activist, to help out because he had played a role in the appointment of judges in the past.
“But when he was approached, the man turned it down, arguing that if such a thing was done, it would create serious trouble in Nigeria as the nation was likely to go up in flames.”
Orubebe part of larger strategy
The source alleged that the attempt by Orubebe to stop Jega from announcing the result at the International Conference Centre, Abuja was part of a grand plot to scuttle Buhari’s victory – and set the stage for a national crisis.
Jonathan intervenes
Orubebe warned security agents not to touch him or else the country would burn. But the cabal which orchestrated the plan eventually left him to his devices.
“He got a call from the president warning him to leave the place immediately or he would order security agents to arrest him. Since that time, Orubebe has not been picking anybody’s call,” the source added.
Efforts to reach Orubebe were not successful at press time.
Bayo Oladeji, media aide to PDP Campaign Organisation (PDPCO) Director General, Femi Fani-Kayode, said his principal was in a meeting and would prefer a text message.
When a text message was sent, he asked: “What is the name of the lawyer [our source] and who briefed him, where and when?”
Oyegun warns PDP defectors
PDP juggernauts, among them former Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Jonathan Zwingina, and former Edo State Governor, Osarheimen Osunbor, have moved to the APC since the federal ballot on March 28.
“We will not allow the APC to be diluted by some of these people who are showing interest in the party now,” Odigie-Oyegun warned in an exclusive interview with TheNiche in Abuja.
The defections were triggered by the unprecedented victory of the APC, whose presidential candidate, Buhari, won the Villa to unseat Jonathan of the PDP which has ruled the country in all of the 16 years of the Fourth Republic.
