Intimidation won’t help Atiku in tribunal, says ex-Reps member

A former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes in the 8th National Assembly, Kayode Oladele, on Monday, faulted the comment of a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Segun Sowunmi, about the party’s presidential candidate’s resolve to seek redress for his election loss.

Sowunmi, a former spokesperson for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, in an interview, had said Atiku had many other options to pursue but chose to follow the rule of law by filing his petition before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

Oladele, a human rights lawyer, in a statement issued in Abuja, described the comment as an “act of intimidation and cyberbullying.”

Oladele said that to an average person, the statement has damaged and disparaged Atiku’s reputation more than might have been intended by Sowunmi.


He said, “The insinuations and innuendos from the interview are that Atiku is capable of resorting to extra-constitutional remedies such as violence, terrorism, civil disorder, and other physical forces or acts of war in pursuit of his grievances after his election loss. But he was only magnanimous enough to toe the line of civility, law, and order by filing his petition before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

“Anyhow, whatever his opinion is, I believe that Nigeria is not a banana republic, and nobody can intimidate the judiciary or threaten the corporate existence of the country just because of a failed personal ambition. Nigeria is a country of peace, law, and order.

“Even though our democracy is nascent, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary are very critical, central, and fundamental to its advancement, growth, and development.”