Tinubu’s victory at Supreme Court undermines Nigerians’ confidence in judiciary, says Peter Obi

Cyril Mbah Abuja Bureau Chief and Chigozie Ikpo,
Abuja

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi in the February 25th election says the judgment of the Supreme Court that gave victory to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has greatly eroded the confidence Nigerians reposed in the judiciary.
Obi disclosed this while reacting to the October 26 judgment of the Apex Court, which affirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
Addressing a World Press Conference on Monday, Obi said the decision of the court contradicts the true state of the case, amidst the huge amount of evidence presented by the LP legal team to prove the irregularities in the conduct of the election as well as ingenuity of the eventual winner.
He said the judgment of the Supreme Court brings to an end their legal push for justice as constitution demands, but said that the struggle for a New Nigeria has just started, reiterating his commitment to a country that works for everyone.
Obi said, “It is, therefore, with great dismay that 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 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.
“Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary. 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.
“In disagreeing very strongly with the ruling of both the Presidential Petitions Court (PEPC) and the Supreme Court on the outcome of the 25th February 2023 Presidential election as declared by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as democrats who believe in the rule of law, we recognize that the Supreme Court is the end stage of the quest for legal closure to the matter.
“As a party and as candidates, Datti and I have now exhausted all legal and constitutional remedies available to us. However, this end is only another beginning in our quest for the vindication of the hope of the common man for a better country. We have long been aware of how weak national institutions have negatively affected our democracy. This year 2023 has been quite remarkable and revealing. INEC has displayed incompetence in the conduct of its statutory duty.
“Where the value and import of the recent Supreme Court ruling ends is where our commitment to a New Nigeria begins. Our mission and mandate remain unchanged. From the very onset, our mission has been more about enthroning a New Nigeria. It is a New Nation where things work, where the country is led from its present waste and consumption orientation to a production-driven economy.
“Our commitment is to a nation anchored on the principles of prudent management of resources to quickly pull millions out of multidimensional poverty, ensuring transparency and accountability in the equitable distribution of opportunities, resources, and privileges. In the New Nigeria, we aim to address all unmet needs by showing compassion for all those left behind by the present system”.
Obi announced that by the judgment, the Labour Party has now become opposition and assured Nigerians that they will not relent in speaking truth to power and advocate for good governance, while working together to strengthen the party at all levels.
“Given our present national circumstances, there is a compelling need for a strong political opposition. We shall, therefore, remain in opposition, especially because of the policies and the governance modalities that we in the Labour Party campaigned for, especially reducing the cost of governance, moving the nation from consumption to production, reducing inflation, ending insecurity, promoting the rule of law, guaranteeing the responsibility to protect, and stabilizing the Nigerian currency; are clearly not the priorities of the present administration nor is it interested in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“If there is one thing that has immensely gladdened my heart in the course of the struggle of the past 18 months, it is the passionate desire of our people, especially our young people from across ethnic and religious divides, to construct a new and restructured Nigeria that will work for all Nigerians. That goal remains my guiding light and abiding inspiration.
“Finally, I thank all Nigerians who believed in what is now only a revolution postponed. We deeply appreciate the unalloyed non-partisan moral support millions of youths and ordinary Nigerians across ethnic, religious, and geo-political divides have continued to give to Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed and me.” Obi said
Meanwhile, the Presidency in its reaction, asked Obi to seek another vocation outside politics rather than casting aspersions on judges and the judiciary.
This was contained in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy.
It reads: “Labour Party Presidential candidate in the last election, Mr. Peter Obi, addressed a press conference, just like Atiku Abubakar, where he cast aspersions on the Supreme Court and the Independent National Electoral Commission for not declaring him the winner of the February 25, 2023 election.
“We are 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.
“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.
“At the press conference where he tried, in vain, to gaslight Nigerians with false claims and innuendos, Mr. 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 judgement 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.
“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.
“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.
Similarly, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has descended heavily on Obi by reminding him that serious issues like election cases are not decided on social media platforms.
Barr Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a statement on Monday said Obi’s “belated and grouchy reaction to the judgment of the Supreme Court dismissing his appeal against the electoral victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was simply laughable.
He observed that Peter Obi, stated that “the Supreme Court exhibited a disturbing aversion to public opinion just as it abandoned its responsibility as a court of law and policy.”
“At Obi’s Press Conference earlier today, November 6, 2023, Obi, he again blamed our democratic institutions, particularly the courts for not awarding him victory – not because he won the election, not because he proved his case in court as required by law but because he is Peter Obi. That haughty sense of entitlement seems to pervade his vitriolic attack on our institutions.
“Mr Obi’s gross inability to distinguish between his warped version of public opinion and reality has been his greatest undoing throughout the electioneering season. “Taken by the mass hysteria of his vociferous netizens and fringe supporters, Mr Obi ensconced himself in alternate reality, a parallel political universe of self delusion.
“As someone who has previously benefited from the rulings of the Supreme Court on electoral matters, Obi’s acerbic attack on the judiciary only belies his arrogance and vainness. When the same courts previously decided in his favor, the courts were beacons of democracy. Now that the decisions are against him, all of a sudden, the courts have betrayed democracy.
“Mr Obi, it cannot always be about you. It must always be about our country. Cases are not won on public opinion, they are won on evidence and the law. You failed on both counts.”
Morka said the APC welcomes Mr Obi’s decision to engage in opposition politics going forward, ading “We urge Obi and his Labour Party to do so maturely and constructively, and contribute to the important task of building a safer, stronger and more prosperous country for us all.”