Tinubu reacts, criticisms mount, over Supreme Court ruling

Supreme Court has reaffirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25, 2023 election, after the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) had earlier affirmed the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare him winner.

This is, however, as criticisms have trailed the ruling of the apex court, Thursday, over its decision to reaffirm President Tinubu as duly elected in the February 25 election despite what they termed as ‘glaring irregularities’ in the elections proper and qualifications’ of the latter.

The Supreme Court in its ruling, in Abuja, Thursday, dismissed the appeals by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart Peter Obi.

A seven-judge 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.

It would be recalled that, last month, Peter Obi, filed 51 grounds of appeal before the Supreme Court to invalidate the election of President Bola Tinubu.

Obi argued in his appeal that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, (PEPT), erred in law and hence reached an erroneous decision when it denied his petition to contest the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

Among other things, he claimed that the five-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Haruna Tsammani committed a grievous miscarriage of justice against him by ruling that he did not specify voting units where anomalies occurred during the election.

He further chastised the PEPT for dismissing his complaint because he did not disclose the numbers of votes or scores that were allegedly suppressed or inflated in favour of Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Obi claimed that the testimony of his witnesses was wrongfully dismissed as incompetent, accusing the lower court of violating his right to a fair hearing.

He informed the Supreme Court that the panel had wrongfully disregarded his claim that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had posted 18, 088 obscured results to its IReV platform.

He informed the Supreme Court that the panel had wrongfully disregarded his claim that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had posted 18, 088 obscured results to its IReV platform.

Furthermore, he claimed that the lower court ignored his claim that certified true copies of documents issued by INEC to his legal team consisted of 8,123 blurred results containing blank A4 papers, pictures, and images of unknown persons, purporting to be the CTC of polling unit results of the presidential election.

“The learned justices of the court below erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice when they held and concluded that he failed to establish the allegation of corrupt practices and over-voting,” Obi stated.

Similarly, the PDP candidate, Atiku filed a notice of appeal predicated on 35 grounds, as he insisted that the tribunal committed a grave error and miscarriage of justice in its findings and conclusion in its petition challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s declaration of Tinubu as President.

Reacting to the Supreme Court judgement, Thursday afternoon, Tinubu in a statement, welcomed the verdict of the Justice John I. Okoro-led Panel of the Supreme Court on the Presidential Election petitions filed by the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party, challenging the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

According to Tinubu, ‘The court has done justice to all issues put up for consideration in the petitions on the merits of the law, without fear or favour.’

“There is no doubt, with the profound judgment of today, that our electoral jurisprudence and constitutional democracy are further consolidated and embedded more indelibly in our national identity because of the diligence and undaunted professionalism of the Honourable Justices who presided over the matter,” Tinubu said.

Also, staff of the President congratulated him in his office, with his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, telling Tinubu ‘Your job is secured.’

Meanwhile, reacting to the ruling, Nigerians have questioned the judgement of the apex court in disregarding other points of appeal by the opposition at the court, including the highly-publicised forfeiture by President Tinubu to the United States court.

According to a Twitter (now X) user positing under the handle of @UkomahM, the Supreme Court ruling made no mention of the narcotics charge.

“Justice Okoro gave a public judgment that was televised with his 6 brothers… And there was no public mention on the case of forfeiting and payment of fine of $460,000 which are proceeds of narcotics trafficking.

“In minutes, they avoided mentioning all the germane issues under Section 137(1)(d). That’s the Justice that they serve,” the user wrote.

Other reactions:

Barnabas (@neithybaram) wrote:

This is a Supreme Court judgement from an Appeal that is based on points of Law alone.

Oladmeji Akogun (@OladmejiAkogun) wrote:

Oga the apex court has spoken nothing more let’s move on

Jide Oluyitan (@jideoluyitan1) wrote:

Inyang Okoro is renowned for corrupt judgement .He is one of  the judges that legalized Muhammadu Buhari ‘s fraudulent election.

KBROK ELOHIM. (@Okoi100) wrote:

The injustice justices judges

Jacob Ajima (@AjimaJacob) wrote:

Candidates should do ALL it takes for inec to declare them winners. Killing, rigging, stealing and snatching of ballot boxes and votes cannot be proved beyond reasonable doubt including forgery (perjury).  Once you are declared a winner, it’s heaven on earth for you and family.

Akin Olaoye (@akintollgate) wrote:

On this day Bola Ahmed Tinubu @officialABAT  has been affirmed the President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Supreme Court. Obidients and my comrades in LP, we gave it a good run and played by the rules 100% however the system revealed the ugliness of establishment capture. @PeterObi  was my preferred choice in the 2023 elections and I sacrificed a great deal to see that dream come through but perhaps the entities responsible for ensuring a fair play didn’t live up to expectations. I hope the youths of this great nation do not give up on political participation as we saw a high turnout with PVC collection and election exercise in 2023. Bigotry, ethnic hate and religious vitriol has no place in our politics. If this was your stock and trade during the elections to prop up your candidate or disenfranchise other Nigerians, I hope you live with the shame and seek forgiveness from your fellow countrymen.Thanks to everyone who volunteered time, resources and committed themselves to seeing this democracy of ours wax much stronger. Time to go back to the drawing board and begin doing the tunnel work ahead of future elections. No negative energy from me or ill-wish towards this great nation or this administration. Congratulations President Bola Ahmed Tinubu! 

Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) wrote:

The Supreme Court has now ruled on the appeal brought by my party and its Presidential candidate. I do not comment on the rightness or wrongness of the judgment, except to say that as a law-abiding and patriotic citizen of Nigeria, it is accepted that the Supreme Court is final. Therefore, the judgment should be accepted by all Nigerians as settling all the issues of contention and the matter of who won the Presidential election held on February 25, 2023. Therefore, I call on the Peoples Democratic Party and its Presidential candidate, Waziri Atiku Abubakar, to accept the judgment and let this controversy end. I congratulate President Bola Tinubu and the people of Nigeria, who now have clarity for the future. Perhaps we can now focus on the task of building our nation and growing our economy to enable it to deliver a decent living and opportunities for positive human development for all Nigerians, especially the masses. To the Peoples Democratic Party, let us learn from the disunity that cost us this election. If a united opposition could not defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress in 2019, we showed an extreme lack of judgment to have allowed division within our ranks in 2022-2023. Hopefully, we can make better decisions for the future. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) wrote:

Now we all know the true definition of a Criminal Enterprise Gang. Some would ask, “Where’s now the hope?” because, what else can Citizens who seek a Good Society now do in the light of judicial enthronement of Criminality as an official Norm? Well, take heart in this fact. History shows that every Criminal Enterprise carries the seed of its eventual deconstruction. All. The. Time. So, do not be deceived. Nature abhors dishonest gain and knows how to deal with it from the inside. 

Umar Sani (@UmarSanithecat) wrote:

INYANG JOHN OKORO JSc WHAT WILL YOU GAIN? Rhetorically I throw the same question to you Justice Inyang John Okoro what do you stand to gain by chairing the Presidential Elections Appeal Panel? You pressured the Allied Progressive Movement (APM) to withdraw their petition on the strength of what you described as “what they intend to gain since they won’t be President”. Similarly, as the chairman of the PEPC appeal panel who does not enjoy the confidence of the majority of Nigerians and whose neutrality and impartiality are suspect owing to fraternal relationships with members of the ruling party and the previously established corruption allegations hanging on your neck, dispensing justice may be a Herculean task. We had anticipated that as the apex court, your pronouncement on knotty judicial matters would become law and an item of judicial reference whose establishment becomes judicial precedence. The fact that you have pressured the APM to withdraw the suit dwelling on Kashim Shettima’s double nomination you have denied the nation and the legal profession a golden priority prospect to address similar future challenges that may arise. The manner you conducted the hearing of the motion for the presentation of the new evidence by the counsel to Atiku Abubakar on the Chicago State University (CSU) and the questions you and the highly-rated Emmanuel Agim Jsc were proffering were, to say the least petty, pedestrian, and pointless. The fundamental question you raised was aimed at casting aspersions on the substance, conduct, and competence of the United States judiciary.  Perhaps those interrogatory questions were aimed at establishing and redirecting the minds of the citizens to the centric theme of your expected judgment which is most probable to be an antithesis to equity fairness and justice. Whatever you decide tomorrow history will not forget you in a hurry as Nigerians have never looked up to the judiciary more than now. Your decisions will most profoundly have moral, legal, judicial, and political consequences for our dear and esteemed nation.