The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) expresses deep disappointment regarding the recent Supreme Court ruling on the petition filed by PDP’s Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winners of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The PDP, along with the majority of Nigerians, is profoundly concerned and disheartened by the Supreme Court’s decision. The party believes that this ruling contradicts the clear provisions outlined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act of 2022, and the guidelines and regulations set forth by INEC for conducting the election.
The PDP asserts that this outcome is a disheartening reflection on the state of our democracy. The Supreme Court, rather than upholding the rule of law, has disappointed the expectations of a significant portion of Nigerians who viewed it as the ultimate bastion of impartiality and justice, especially in a matter that should have been determined based on the laws and facts surrounding 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.
