PEPT judgement day is here: Obi, Tinubu, Atiku know fate September 16

“How can a public institution like INEC certify blank documents and say that you certified polling unit results, certify photographs and say that you certified polling units result. I mean, they should stop taking Nigerians for granted. It is very unfortunate that this type of thing should be happening in the 21st century. Other countries have moved on, we are still running round and round and round trying to organise an election; yet we are behaving as if we are still in the primitive age

 

Emmanuel Ukudolo – Monday, August 28, 2023

 

LAGOS, Nigeria – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidates of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will know their fate on September 16, 2023 after reserving judgement in their case against the president.

This is because the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT , comprising Justice Haruna Tsammani; Justice Stephen Adah; Justice Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf; Justice Boloukuoromo Ugoh and Justice Abba Mohammed will on that day render judgement after six months of presentation of evidence and arguments by Senior Advocates of Nigeria in support of their clients at the tribunal.

Already Nigerians are eager to hear what the tribunal will declare, whether to set Nigerians on the path of war for future elections or to beat a retreat by announcing the rightful winner of the February 25 Presidential election based on strong evidence before it.

Till date, no election has pricked the conscience of the Nigerian youths than the 2023 general election, coming shortly after a bloody and the most coordinated protest in Nigeria, #endSARS protest, during which the youths were advised by the elders to make the needed change by embracing the ballot box.

That seems to be the tonic that pushed the youths into the streets to effect the needed change. While they await the judgement, the youths who seems to have been too abreast of the antics of politicians, offering bribes to pervert justice in more than two pointed cases – Appeal Court judgement that returned former Senate President to Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, and Senator Godswill Akpabio among others orchestrated a new movement, #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary, flooding the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, with posters and billboards and some states across the federation.

But the executive, led by the APC, a party at the tribunal found the posters offensive and ordered that they be pulled down after suspending leadership of the advertising regulator, for approving what it deems as offensive and a blackmail on the judiciary. Ironically, it is the APC, whose lead counsel, Mr. Wole Olanipekun, SAN, had threatened the judiciary that there would be anarchy if his client is unseated that made the allegation.

But the youths appeared unscarred and have metamorphosed into human billboard, making public appearance in well illustrated T-shirts with the slogan #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary.
They have also etched the slogans on approons for market women and cheffs and handbags, all to the effect that their eyes are on the judiciary and what they are capable of doing based on past experience.

Ironically, it was while this was ongoing that a Judge of the Kano State Election Petitions Tribunal, Ngozi Azinge raised the alarm of an unnamed SAN, flaunting money all around judges to secure favourable judgement for his clients.

However, Issue to be decide by the PEPT judges include alleged non-qualification of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the election, that Tinubu’s election was invalid for the reason of non-compliance with the provision of the Electoral Act 2022; that the respondent was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast among others.

For the record based on court documents, there were 93, 469,008 registered eligible voters for the election, however many were disenfranchised by INEC either deliberately or poor organisation.

Lead lawyer for the Peter Obi’s legal team, Mr. Livy Uzoukwu made these observations about INEC on the 2023 general election at the conclusion of the hearing at PEPT.

“I thought that most of you should be worried that in an election conducted by INEC, we presented 18,888 blurred results from IREV. Then INEC now gave us CTC results and from there we harvested 8, 123 blurred results, some were completely blank, some others were pictures of human beings, some others were buildings; you have results that were not polling units, like ward results, local government collation centres, etc. That is something that should worry Nigerians and they relied on it to pronounce somebody as winner of an election, how can?

“How can a public institution like INEC certify blank documents and say that you certified polling unit results, certify photographs and say that you certified polling units result. I mean, they should stop taking Nigerians for granted. It is very unfortunate that this type of thing should be happening in the 21st century. Other countries have moved on, we are still running round and round and round trying to organise an election; yet we are behaving as if we are still in the primitive age.

He also said that Peter Obi remains the only candidate that scored 25 mandatory percent in the FCT as required by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

While the wait is on, the Judiciary now has an onerous task to make or mar Nigeria’s democracy and determine the direction of future election based on the decisions it will make come September 16, 2023.