Supreme Court judgement: ‘What we’re dealing with, not about me, but Nigeria’ – Atiku

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has told a World Press Conference, in Abuja, Monday, that history will vindicate him in his quest to correct the illegalities sanctioned by the Supreme Court, adding that the issue is not about him, but the future of Nigeria.

Reacting for the first time since, last Thursday’s judgement delivered by the Supreme Court dismissing all 31 grounds of his appeal filed against the ruling of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) decision to affirm President Bola Tinubu as winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on March 1, Atiku further stated that by going to court he had ‘ignored the easy but ignoble path and chosen the difficult but dignified path, the path of truth, of morality, of democracy and rule of law.’

Speaking, Monday, at the Wadata Plaza, PDP National Secretariat, venue of the World Press Conference, Atiku posited that the consequences of the Thursday judgement delivered by the Supreme Court over his appeal ‘will not end at the expiration of the current government. They will last for decades.’

Continuing, Atiku said he approached the apex court of the country to seek redress, as he insisted that it was not about a personal ambition but ‘about our country, Nigeria.’

“I even went to an American court to help with unravelling what our state institutions charged with such responsibilities were unwilling or unable to do, including unravelling the qualifying academic records of the person sworn in as our President and by implication, hopefully who he really is.

“I offered that evidence procured with the assistance of the American Court to our Supreme Court to help it to do justice in this case. I give this background to underscore that what we are currently dealing with is bigger than one or two presidential elections and is certainly bigger than Atiku Abubakar. It is not about me; it is about our country, Nigeria.

“It is about the kind of society we want to leave for the next generation and what kind of example we want to set for our children and their children,” Atiku stated.

The former Vice President of the country noted that if ‘if the Supreme Court legitimizes illegality, including forgery, identity theft, and perjury… then there is really no hope for the country’s democracy and electoral politics.’

“Someone asked me what I would do if I lost my election petition appeal at the Supreme Court. In response, I said that as long as Nigeria wins, the struggle would have been worth the while. By that, I meant that the bigger loss would not be mine but Nigeria’s if the Supreme Court legitimizes illegality, including forgery, identity theft, and perjury.

“If the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, implies by its judgment that crime is good and should be rewarded, then Nigeria has lost and the country is doomed irrespective of who occupies the Presidential seat. If the Supreme Court decides that the Electoral umpire, INEC, can tell the public one thing and then do something else in order to reach a corruptly predetermined outcome, then there is really no hope for the country’s democracy and electoral politics,” Atiku said.

According to the PDP chieftain, history will vindicate him on the strength of ‘what the Supreme Court has decided.’

It would be recalled that his party, the PDP had earlier, Thursday, rejected the Supreme Court judgement which reaffirmed Tinubu as winner of the presidential election, describing the ruling as condoning ‘forgery, falsehood, perjury on the altar of technicalities.’

The main opposition, which described the Supreme Court judgment as ‘disappointing and concerning,’ wondered how the apex court sidestepped what it termed ‘serious issues of forgery, falsehood and perjury on the altar of technicalities’

PDP, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba and issued in reaction to the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court in the appeal filed by Atiku, further expressed dismay over the apex court’s failure to ‘uphold the provisions of the law.’

The apex court had dismissed the all the grounds of appeal filed by both appellants; Atiku of the PDP and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) in the aftermath of the Presidential Election and Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) judgement of last month following the disputed February 25, 2023 election.

In its judgement, the seven-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro dismissed the appeals by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart Peter Obi.

While Obi filed 51 grounds of appeal, Atiku followed with 35 at the Supreme Court.

Last Thursday, a seven-man judges panel ruled as without merit the opposition appeals over claims of fraud, electoral law violations, and Tinubu’s ineligibility to run for president.

The apex court thrashed all the grounds of appeal of Atiku and PDP on qualification, non-compliance with the Electoral Act, the 25% votes in FCT, and electoral malpractices.

“On the whole, having resolved all the issues against the appellant, it is my view that there is no merit in the appeal and it is hereby dismissed,” Justice Inyang Okoro said in dismissing Atiku’s appeal.

“The judgment of the court below delivered on September 6th, 2023 affirming the election of the second respondent as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is hereby affirmed.”

It listened to Obi’s appeal for about five minutes. In dealing with the LP’s presidential candidate on the issue of double nomination of Vice-President Kashim Shettima, the court held that the issue had been dealt with in its ruling on May 26.

“As for issue Number 4 which has to do with double nomination which was not in Atiku’s appeal, it is the view of this court that this issue having been dealt with by this court, this court cannot allow the matter to be re-litigated in this very court. There must be an end to litigation,” Justice Okoro held.

“For us to sit down now and talk about when this man resigned or did not resign when they did fresh primaries to replace him which we have done before, we are not going to do this again.

“This matter ought not to have come in. When this matter was pending at the trial court, this court delivered that judgment. If you read the judgment of the lower court, they mentioned that the Supreme Court has settled this matter and that should have been the end.

“You now bring this issue of double nomination for us to sit on it and write another judgment, this is not how it should be. This appeal lacks merit and is hereby dismissed,” Justice Okoro ruled.

The apex court also affirmed that other panel members agreed with the lead judgment delivered by John Okoro, in dismissing Atiku’s appeal and challenging the judgment of the presidential petition tribunal.

Meanwhile, the PDP in its earlier reaction said it 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,” the party said.

Full text of a World Press Conference on the Presidential Election Petition Judgement by Atiku Abubakar, GCON, Waziri Adamawa, former Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) and Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 Election, at the PDP Headquarters in Abuja on Monday, 30th October, 2023.

Protocol.

Gentlemen of the Press.

Someone asked me what I would do if I lost my election petition appeal at the Supreme Court. In response, I said that as long as Nigeria wins, the struggle would have been worth the while. By that, I meant that the bigger loss would not be mine but Nigeria’s if the Supreme Court legitimizes illegality, including forgery, identity theft, and perjury.

If the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, implies by its judgment that crime is good and should be rewarded, then Nigeria has lost and the country is doomed irrespective of who occupies the Presidential seat. If the Supreme Court decides that the Electoral umpire, INEC, can tell the public one thing and then do something else in order to reach a corruptly predetermined outcome, then there is really no hope for the country’s democracy and electoral politics.

Obviously, the consequences of those decisions for the country will not end at the expiration of the current government. They will last for decades. I am absolutely sure that history will vindicate me. We now know what the Supreme Court has decided.

At critical points in my political life, I always ignored the easy but ignoble path and chosen the difficult but dignified path, the path of truth, of morality, of democracy and rule of law.

I always chose freedom over servitude, whatever the personal discomforts my choice entails. When I joined politics, the critical challenge was easing the military out of power so that civilian democratic governance could be restored in Nigeria. It later became a very defining struggle, and, as one of the leaders of that struggle, I was targeted for elimination.

In one incident, nine policemen guarding my home in Kaduna were murdered in an attempt to assassinate me. I was also forced into exile for nine (9) months. In addition, my interest in a logistics company that I co-owned was confiscated and given to friends of the military government. As Vice President in the civilian government that succeeded the military, I, again at great personal cost, chose to oppose the extension of the tenure of the government beyond the two four-year terms enshrined in our constitution.

In response to the official backlash against me, I instituted several cases in the courts, which led to seven landmark decisions that helped to deepen our democracy and rule of law. At the current historic moment, the easier option for me would have been to fold up and retreat after the mandate banditry perpetrated by the APC and INEC.

But I went to the Nigerian courts to seek redress. I even went to an American court to help with unravelling what our state institutions charged with such responsibilities were unwilling or unable to do, including unravelling the qualifying academic records of the person sworn in as our President and by implication, hopefully who he really is.

I offered that evidence procured with the assistance of the American Court to our Supreme Court to help it to do justice in this case. I give this background to underscore that what we are currently dealing with is bigger than one or two presidential elections and is certainly bigger than Atiku Abubakar.

It is not about me; it is about our country, Nigeria. It is about the kind of society we want to leave for the next generation and what kind of example we want to set for our children and their children.