The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to Thursday’s Supreme Court judgment filed by its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The apex court today affirmed the election of Tinubu barely two months after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal validated his election on September 6, 2023.
Reacting to the judgment, the PDP, in a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba said the facts of the case were sacrificed on the altar of technicalities.
The party said it is “appalled” that the Supreme Court could affirm Tinubu as president despite evidenced before it, adding that to the expectations of Nigerians in the apex court as the last hope of the common man has been thoroughly dashed.
Below is PDP full statement:
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is appalled by the judgment of the Supreme Court in the petition filed by the PDP and Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar against the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winners of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The PDP and indeed majority of Nigerians are alarmed, disappointed and gravely concerned with the reasoning of the Supreme Court which the PDP believes is against the express provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, 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 especially with regards to the required statutory 25% 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 APC.
Nigerians are still at a loss as to how the Supreme Court condoned the serious issues of forgery, falsehood and perjury on the altar of technicalities.
The general gloom, melancholy and sense of despondency across the country upon the delivery of the judgment is an ominous sign of eerie situation which portend grave 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.
The PDP remains undeterred and charges Nigerians not to be discouraged or allow the judgment to detract from their collective quest for the entrenchment of a credible electoral system that can guarantee a government that truly derive its legitimacy from the people.
Signed:
Hon. Debo Ologunagba
National Publicity Secretary”
