Reactions have continued to trail the judgement of the Supreme Court affirming Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected president of Nigeria.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Supreme Court affirmed the election of Tinubu on Thursday after dismissing appeals filed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
PDP expresses disappointment over Supreme Court judgement
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it is disappointed with the judgment of the Supreme Court affirming President Bola Tinubu as winner of the Feb. 25, 2023, Presidential election, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The PDP expressed its position in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in Abuja on Thursday, in reaction to the court judgment on the appeal petition filed by the party and its Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on the election.
Ologunagba said that the PDP and indeed majority of Nigerians were alarmed, disappointed and gravely concerned with the reasoning of the Supreme Court.
He said that the PDP believed the judgment was against the express provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended); the Electoral Act, 2022; and the Guideline and Regulation issued by INEC under which the election was conducted.
“The PDP asserts that it is indeed a sad commentary for our democracy that the Supreme Court failed to uphold the provisions of the law.
“Instead, it trashed the expectation of majority of Nigerians who looked up to it as a temple of impartiality to deliver substantial justice in the matter having regards to the laws and facts of the case.
“Nigerians earnestly expected the Supreme Court to uphold and defend the clear provisions of the 1999 Constitution in terms of qualification and minimum requirement for a winner to be declared in a Presidential election in Nigeria.
“This is especially with regards to the required statutory 25 per cent of votes in the FCT as well as issues of violation of electoral Rules and Guidelines, brazen manipulations and alterations of election results by the All Progressives Congress (APC),” Ologunagba said.
He said that Nigerians were still at a loss as to how the Supreme Court condoned the “serious issues of forgery, falsehood and perjury on the altar of technicalities,” he said.
Ologunagba said that the general gloom, melancholy and sense of despondency across the country upon the delivery of the judgment was an ominous sign of eerie situation which portend consequences because of the disappointment embedded in the judgment.
“This judgment by the Supreme Court has evidently shaken the confidence of Nigerians in the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court as the last hope of the common man,” he stated.
Ologunagba however declared that the PDP remained undeterred.
He charged Nigerians not to be discouraged or allow the judgment to detract from their collective quest for the entrenchment of a credible electoral system that could guarantee a government that derive its legitimacy from the people.
APC diaspora chairmen hail Tinubu’s Supreme Court victory
The APC Committee of Diaspora Chairmen (CDC) has congratulated President Bola Tinubu on his victory at the Supreme Court, urging opposition candidates to team up with the President.
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the appeals made by the presidential candidates of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), challenging Tinubu’s victory in the Feb. 25 election.
Reacting, Prince Stephen Tella, Chairman, APC Spain Chapter and General Secretary of CDC, said Tinubu’s victory was for all Nigerians, hence all stakeholders must join hands to build the nation everyone will be proud of.
Tella said : “Congratulations to our President, Father, Leader, and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
“This Supreme Court validity is a victory for all Nigerians and democrats. We are experiencing a deepening of our democracy, and Nigeria will light up Africa as the largest democracy in the Sub-Sahara West Africa and Africa.
“There is no winner and no loser, the race for the 2027 general elections has just begun again following the apex court’s verdict.
“Let us be guided that the match to 2027 has just started effectively today when all Nigerians will have another opportunity to exercise their democratic rights again.
“Now is the time for the Ndigbos, Arewas, Oduduwas to come together and build a Nigeria of our dreams and envy to the world,” Tella said.
The Supreme Court, in the lead verdict delivered by Justice John Okoro, affirmed the election of Tinubu as Nigeria’s president in the 2023 general election.
Judgement: Niger Delta group march in solidarity with Tinubu
No fewer than 500 Niger Delta youths, under the auspices of Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front, on Thursday, marched the streets of Abuja to show support for President Bola Tinubu’s victory at the Feb. 25 presidential election.
The Founder of the group, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, represented by his Coordinator, Ekiyor-Zua Boma-Daniels, in an interview said they were in Abuja “to show solidarity to the mandate they voted for.”
“We have been on ground since the inception of the electoral tribunal; at every sitting, we have been on ground and today, we are still here.
“We are here to show solidarity to the mandate that we voted for in the past general elections.
“We noticed that while at the electoral tribunal that some other persons that were sympathetic to other candidates had come to the tribunal premises to disrupt proceedings and harass judges and VIPs.
“So that prompted us to come to show solidarity and to let other people understand that civil disobedience doesn’t mean violence.
“You can be a law abiding citizens, you can show solidarity to whoever you are interested in or preferred candidates but don’t go beyond the provisions of the law.
“So that is why we are here. We have been here for four months violent-free, well-behaved and today seems to be the grand finale because the Supreme Court has said that they will give final judgment in the case,” he said.
Dokubo said whichever way the pendulum of the judgment swings would be welcomed.
“Be that as it may, if it favours us or against us, we don’t have any problem with that because we cannot teach the judiciary what to do.
“Everybody should be law abiding citizen. They (judges) are mandated by the constitution of Nigeria to give a verdict and whichever way the verdict goes, it is in the hand of God,” he said.
He, however, expressed hope that Tinubu’s victory would be affirmed by the apex court.
“We are very hopeful. We came all the way from Niger Delta to this place.
“We are 500 of us in this place and we know that massively we campaigned, massively we we mobilised, massively we voted for that mandate that was declared by INEC.
“And we know that court gives judgment based on the evidence before them and we are 100 per cent sure that the evidence of the process of the law that convinced INEC to announce that results will be reflected in the tribunal and the justices and uphold that same mandate and victory,” he said.
Members of the group, who dressed in black and red attire, sang different solidarity songs in Tinubu’s support.
The group, with various placards with inscriptions like: “President Tinubu loves the Niger Delta,” “Stop Living in Illusion, President Tinubu is the Choice of the Majority,” “The Office of the Citizen is Supreme,”
“The Citizens have Spoken,” “On Tinubu’s Mandate We the Citizens Stand,” among others, danced around the interception of Shehu Shagari Way and Independence Avenue by the office of the Head of Service, Federal Secretariat.
The Supreme Court had fixed today for judgment in the appeals filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP)’s counterpart, Mr Peter Obi.
The duo and their parties had lodged appeals challenging the Sept. 6 ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that upheld Tinubu’s electoral victory.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Tinubu the winner of the Feb. 25 presidential poll after he defeated Atiku, Obi and 16 others.
Bello congratulates Tinubu on Supreme Court victory
Gov. Yahaya Bello has congratulated President Bola Tinubu over his victory at the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Bello said this in a statement in Lokoja by his media aide, Mr Onogwu Mohammed on Thursday.
“The Supreme Court’s verdict is a resounding reaffirmation of the people’s choice, which signifies the enduring strength of Nigeria’s democratic institutions and the unwavering refuge the judiciary provides to ordinary citizens.
“The Supreme Court’s judgment, which upholds the popular will, vividly expressed during the elections conducted on Feb. 25 reinforcing the fundamental value of credible and transparent electoral processes in our great nation.
“While I congratulate the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, I’m optimistic that the party will also warmly invite all candidates from other political parties who participated in the election to collaborate with the President for the collective good of the nation.
“I hereby declare my unwavering confidence that, under President Bola Tinubu’s visionary leadership, Nigeria will continue to flourish and thrive in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration, “he said.
The Supreme Court panel led by Justice John Inyang-Okoro unanimously upheld the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that Tinubu was duly elected in the Feb. 25 poll.
It also dismissed appeals by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the LP.