Atiku may return to Supreme Court for review of 2019 presidential election judgement

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have on Monday indicated that its presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, is likely to return to the Supreme Court for review of the judgement on the presidential election which upheld the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP leadership, accordingly, demanded the review of the Supreme Court judgement on the 2019 presidential election. The party maintained that the review has become imperative where the issue of certificate forgery and or presentation of false information in aid of qualifications was clearly established against the APC and her presidential candidate

The PDP had raised alarm over what the party considered desperation of the APC to subjugate, intimidate for the purpose of annexing the Supreme Court over Imo, Bayelsa and Zamfara governorship election judgments.

The Opposition Party resolved to challenge the presidential election judgment in response to perceived unnecessary return to the Supreme Court by the APC for review of judgment on the Bayelsa and Zamfara states governorship elections, after PDP had challenged the judgement on Imo State.  The PDP felt that APC had not coordinated itself properly in recent court processes and judgements, leading to the ridicule of the judiciary and Nigerian judges, in as much as PDP had respected previous judgements in favour of APC in Osun, Kano, and others.

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“Consequently, the National Working Committee of the PDP, after comprehensive consultations, states that our party has no choice left, given the manner with which the APC has conducted itself, than to ask for a review of the judgment of the Presidential election petition tribunal, where the issue of certificate forgery and or presentation of false information in aid of qualifications was clearly established against the APC and her presidential candidate.

“The same applies to the judgment on the Katsina governorship election petition, where lawyers also established similar issue of certificate forgery.

“The PDP equally has no choice than to ask the Supreme Court to review the Kano, Kaduna and Katsina election judgments, because of manifest violence and substantial non-compliance to our electoral law.

“The PDP also asks the Supreme Court to review its judgment on the Osun Governorship election in view of manifest, complete and total disregard to our electoral rules in the conduct of the elections.

“Our party will not fold its hands and watch enemies of our hard-earned democracy, who contributed nothing to its birth, to continue to appropriate our collective sovereignty for their selfish political gains while destroying our institutions and holding our people to ransom,” Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP National Publicity Secretary, declared at a press conference in Abuja on Monday.

The PDP had earlier expressed it wish to bring to the attention of the world that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is all out to destabilize the nation and destroy the hard-earned democracy. The National Publicity Secretary was of the view that the time has come for all Nigerians to stand in unity to defend the nation and salvage it from political marauders and oppressive elements.

He stated that many are already aware of the desperation by the APC to annex the Supreme Court, subjugate and browbeat the justices and direct judicial determinations to suit their selfish ends.

Ologbondiyan declared: “The public space is already awash with reports of how the APC has been threatening and piling pressure on the justices of the Supreme Court to force a reversal of valid judgments already delivered on the Bayelsa and Zamfara governorship elections, where the party (APC) suffered self-inflicted losses.

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“Nigerians know that the APC has been going through a hemorrhage since the Supreme Court delivered valid judgments on Bayelsa and Zamfara and as a result, they are no longer interested in the logic of these judgments.

“They have since thrown caution to the wind to destabilize our nation and destroy our hard-earned democracy especially the judiciary. The APC federal government is leading all forms of battles against the rule of law and constitutionalism.”

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The PDP, however, held that its sacrifices for the sustenance of democracy, as demonstrated in the party’s patriotic comportment towards the verdicts of the court on the Presidential election as well as Osun, Kano, Katsina and Kaduna governorship elections tribunal, subsist.

The party noted that there is a consensus among majority of Nigerians and even the international community that there was obvious miscarriage of justice by the Supreme Court panel on the Imo State governorship election, for which the PDP accordingly reverted to the Supreme Court asking it to correct the manifest mistakes and errors in that judgment, which are already in the public domain.

“However, the PDP finds it ludicrous, ridiculous and insulting to the sensibilities and respect of the Supreme Court Justices for the APC to hurriedly and malevolently head to the Supreme Court to attempt to arm twist the lord justices to effect a forceful reversal of the valid, flawless and faultless judgments on Bayelsa and Zamfara states governorship elections,” Ologbondiyan declared.