Supreme Court’s Position Leaves Many Questions Unanswered – Atiku
The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has said the position of the Supreme Court, affirming President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 election, leaves many questions unanswered. He also said Nigeria was the bigger loser of the court verdict.
He said, “The bigger loss is not mine but for Nigeria. If the Supreme Court implies that crime is good and should be rewarded, then Nigeria has lost, and the country is doomed irrespective of who occupies the office.”
Atiku made the statements while addressing a press conference on national issues in Abuja on Monday.
Recall that the Supreme Court, on Thursday, agreed with the September 6 verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, on all counts.
The seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Inyang Okoro, in a unanimous judgment, resolved the seven issues for determination in the appeals filed by the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; and his Labour Party, LP, counterpart, Mr. Peter Obi, in favour of Tinubu .
The legal tango started in March when Atiku, Obi, the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, and two others approached the PEPC to challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission’s INEC’s declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential poll.
The INEC had, on March 1, announced that Tinubu of the APC won the presidential contest ahead of 17 other candidates. It declared that Tinubu scored 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar, who got 6,984,520 votes, and Mr. Peter Obi, who came third with 6,101,533 votes.
President Tinubu hailed the apex court’s verdict, saying the court has done justice to all issues put up for consideration and urged all Nigerians to join hands with him to build the country.
However, the PDP and LP criticised the ruling.
While the PDP said the apex court has disappointed Nigerians, the LP said that Nigeria’s Legislature and Judiciary have been hijacked by the Executive, warning that democracy is under threat and dictatorship looms.
