•••Urge LP, Obi To Approach Supreme Court Over Constitutional 25 percent For Abuja, Transmission of Results, Others
By John Ugo, Awka
Mixed reactions on Wednesday trailed the outcome of the five-man panel of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal which ruled in favour of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.
Some of the speakers have expressed anger over the manner in which the panel of judges struck out ten out 13 prayers of the Labour Party (LP) and its Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, which they said smacked of a new development in the country’s judicial system and therefore cannot stand the test of time.
The Igbo apex socio-cultural Organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide said it is yet to come out with an official position of the verditlct of the PEPT proceedings.
National General Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide Dr. Alex Ogbonnia told our Correspondent on phone, “We are studying the situation and will come out with an official position after our study of the entire proceedings.”
Also, the Director General (DG) of the Peter Obi/ Datti Campaign Organisation, Barrister Joe Martin Uzodike in reaction expressed shock and surprise over the tribunal’s judgment.
He declare that, “Today’s outcome is a proof that it’s impossible to prove an election outcome in Nigeria. By throwing away all documents certified by the electoral body shows there’s no hope on the judiciary.”
He said, “I’m surprised that throughout the tribunal proceedings, all those in attendance were not there today, (Wednesday). Instead, new faces appeared. The likes of Vice President, Chief of Staff, APC governors, among others.
“A normal person will say they had an inclination of what the verdict was going to look like. The question is, did the judgement leak?
“As a lawyer, once an advanced party knows what the judgment is going to be, and shows it by their behaviour, then it’s no more judgement.”
On whether Obi should approach the Supreme Court, he said, “I was not part of the decision to go to court in the first instance. So, I won’t also be part of those to decide on the next step.”
“The Supreme Court is just to push the law further. For me, we’re upside down. I want the Supreme court to confirm them, to guide subsequent actions.”
Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State, Chief Basil Ejidike said that after the 1993 election, the 2023 election is the freest and most credible so far.
Ejidike stated that there is no way the tribunal would nullify the election in view of its transparency congratulating the Justices of the Appeal Court for upholding the verdict of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.
According to Ejidike, “What were you expecting? This is the the freest and most credible elections ever conducted after the 1993 general election and the petitioners could not prove their case and they could not substantiate their claims.
“Judiciary has once again stood up for the Nigerian democracy and I advise the petitioners to congratulate President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and join him in building the country’ he added.
On his part, a Senior lawyer, John Chibunna Okoli-Akirika faulted the panel of judges of the PEPT for dismissing the 25 percent score for Abuja as unjustifiable and its position that INEC had the option to decide how it should transmit result of polls.
“The Constitution can make a man a woman and can say that certain things should be done and having been a constitutional provision nobody has any choice. So, if the Constitution says the result of any election must include 25 percent in Abuja and 2/3; it means that scoring 25 in Abuja is a constitutional requirement. So, that aspect of the judgment needs much to be desired. And I believe this is an Appeal but at the Supreme Court it will set it aside.”
He said, “The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal judgment came to me in a very rude and shocking manner. It is true that the Electoral Act specifies how INEC should transmit results but INEC by its manual, guidelines stipulated how the results shall be transfered or transmitted and to that extent INEC is seemed to have resigned from that contract entered into with Nigerians.”
“INEC by issuing guidelines or manual for the conduct of the elections, it had given the electorate and indeed Nigerians the guidelines on the way and manner election results would be transmitted; the judgment of the Apeal panel in that regard was untenable.”
“The Supreme Court on various occasions held that INEC manuals, guidelines and manuals shall constitute some strict directive situations. To that extent it is illogical, untenable and illegitimate for INEC to tell members of the public how it was going to transmit election results only to turn round to deviate from it and it’s wrong for the court to give inpremature stamp of authority and I would say in that regard that the judgment of the tribunal in that regard is not tenable,” Okoli-Akirika stated.
