2023 Presidential Poll: Presidency, APC attack Obi over stance on Supreme Court verdict

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the last general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, the Presidency, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, disagreed on the Supreme Court ruling which upheld the September 6 verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, and affirmed President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 poll.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, Obi said Nigeria’s democracy was the victim of the October 26 Supreme Court judgment, lamenting that the court ignored evidence of identity theft and rigging against Tinubu, vowing that opposition to bad policies has started, he said: “This is just the beginning of the struggle.”

In a quick counter, the Presidency asked the former Anambra State governor, who got to power in Anambra via the apex court, to look for a better vocation and stop casting aspersions on the Judiciary, adding that courts don’t base their rulings on public opinion.

Also, the APC faulted what it called Obi’s ‘haughty sense of entitlement’, saying cases are won on evidence and law

Obi said as a person who had previously benefited from the rulings of the Supreme Court on electoral matters, he would continue to speak forthrightly.

His words: “As students, young lads at CKC, Onitsha, we were taught values and admonished to always ‘choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong.’

“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.

“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.

Moral burden

“More appalling, the Supreme Court judgment wilfully 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.

“Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our 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. 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 Election 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.”