APC reacts to PDP call to review Buhari Supreme Court victory

The Peoples Democratic Party on Monday asked the Supreme Court to review its judgment, which upheld the victory of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in the 2019 presidential election and dismissed the appeal of the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, who stated this during a press conference in Abuja, also called on the Supreme Court to review its judgments on the governorship elections in four states.

The party demanded a review of the apex court’s judgment on the 2018 governorship election in Osun State. In the judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the APC’s candidate, Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s victory and dismissed the PDP candidate, Ademola Adeleke’s appeal.

It also demanded a review of the Supreme Court judgment on the 2019 Kaduna State election involving the APC candidate, Nasir El-Rufai, and his PDP opponent, Isah Ashiru.

The opposition party further called for a review of the Supreme Court judgment on the Kano State governorship election involving the APC candidate, Abdullahi Ganduje, and his PDP counterpart, Abba Yusuf, as well as the apex court’s verdict on the Katsina State governorship poll.

Reacting to the PDP’s demands, the APC advised the opposition party to return to the farm if it had nothing else to do since it lost the 2019 general elections.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Larne Issa-Onilu said, “We will advise people at the Wadata House to return to the farm. This administration is looking for ways of making this nation food sufficient.

“So, if our friends in Wadata House (PDP National Secretariat) don’t have what to do, they will do well by returning to the farm to farm rice for our people to consume.

“Where is the relationship between the judgment of Bayelsa and that of the presidential election? In the case of the president, we called witnesses.

“Witnesses from Cambridge and WAEC (West African Examination Council) testified and the court ruled in our favour. In the case of Bayelsa, did they (PDP) call any witnesses? We have so many challenges requiring attention in this country other than responding to the whims of an opposition party.”

Prominent lawyers cautioned politicians against calling for reviews of the Supreme Court judgments.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, warned his colleagues against aiding politicians to undermine the judiciary.

He advised the Supreme Court to reject such applications in order not to open a floodgate.

Adegboruwa said, “It actually borders on professional misconduct for senior lawyers to be leading politicians to seek to rubbish the judiciary. Nigerians will hold these lawyers, who are involved in these attempts to denigrate the judiciary, responsible for the loss of confidence in the judiciary at the appropriate time.

“The Supreme Court should preserve its integrity, its authority, and honour by closing its doors against these political opportunists, who have all become power mongers and are not ever satisfied to be out of office for a single day.

“Let all politicians who have lost election-related cases in the Supreme Court accept their fate and go back home and wait for another opportunity at the next ballot.”

Another SAN, Mr Ahmed Raji, said the new wave of fresh applications asking the Supreme Court to review its judgments would make a mockery of the system as it would diminish the finality toga attached to the decisions of the apex court.