“If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
–Ronald Reagan
Daniel Kanu
The Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday, October 30, dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 23, 2019, presidential election has finally been laid to rest after the tension-soaked legal tussle.
This is eight months after the election and five months after Buhari was sworn-in for a second term in office
The import of the judgment is that Nigerians are now stuck and would be riding with Buhari for another three years in the Next Level cruise.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, who led six other members of the apex court’s panel said they have examined all the briefs and the exhibits for over two weeks and came to the reality of the fact that there is no merit in the appeal; hence, they dismissed it.
While delivering the judgment, the CJN said that the reasons for the decision of the court would be disclosed on a date to be communicated later to the parties involved in the case.
The Turaki Adamawa and his party had jointly filed their appeal before the apex court to challenge the September 11, 2019 judgment of the Justice Mohammed Garba-led Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
The tribunal’s judgment which Atiku and his party expressed dissatisfaction with, had dismissed their petition challenging the outcome of the February presidential poll.
Subsequently, the petitioners, on September 23, 2019, filed a total of 66 grounds of appeal before the Supreme Court to challenge the judgment of the tribunal.
Some of Atiku’s prayers were that: Buhari had lied under oath about his educational qualifications, that the president’s secondary school certificate was a forgery, that results from an ‘INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) server’ proved that the PDP candidate had won the election, that the election results were electronically transmitted to this server by INEC and that the electoral umpire blatantly manipulated the votes in favour of the incumbent president.
In all, the Supreme Court was expected in the prayer to nullify Buhari’s victory and either order that Atiku is declared as the valid winner of the poll or order the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh presidential election.
A few weeks before the Supreme Court verdict, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), which claimed there was a plot to manipulate the selection of justices for the presidential election appeal panel had received a warning shot.
The court had sternly warned the CUPP and other organisations against carrying what it called false information.
Lamenting on the legal journey, Atiku said that although the Nigerian judiciary had been sabotaged by a dictatorial cabal, his spirit was not broken by the judgment.
In an emotion-laden statement, Atiku said: “I must accept that the judicial route I chose to take, as a democrat, has come to a conclusion, whether justice was done, is left to the Nigerian people to decide.”
Following the Supreme Court judgment, the social media has been abuzz with mixed reactions. While some Nigerians hailed the verdict others said that it was a caricature of justice.
The pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, said the judgment was an outstanding one, saying that “there is no iota of doubt that Buhari won the election in view of verifiable evidence”
Just like Ribadu, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, and National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, commended the victory at the court, saying that it was expected following the majority votes that were cast for Buhari at the polls.
The former lawmaker representing Bayelsa East in the upper legislative chamber, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, also welcomed the ruling just as he congratulated President Buhari.
But the PDP in a statement by its publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan expressed grave shock at the ruling of the apex court, saying that the outcome of the court was the reverse of what Nigerians were expecting would happen.
The PDP argued that the outcome of the ruling even shocked some members of the ruling APC because it had a solid case to get back the mandate.
Buba Galadima, leader of the reformed All Progressives Congress (rAPC) members, who faulted the judgment, said that Nigerians want to know the court’s analysis, which will explain how the seven-man panel arrived at its decision.
Also, a political activist and former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Comrade Timi Frank, flayed the Supreme Court judgment, describing it as “a show of shame by the judiciary.”
Frank also warned the few beneficiaries who were hailing the outcome of the apex court to be careful not to fall victims in the near future.
The activist declared that the Waziri Adamawa will remain a true hero of democracy in Nigeria despite the ruling.
Some political observers also believe that the PDP should mount a better opposition than what they have offered so far if they want Nigerians to take them seriously.
Their impression is that the present opposition party hardly engages, its press statements often banal, lack-luster and bare-bone just as it waits for election season to remind Nigerians that it is still around.
Atiku has never been tired of running for the office of the president, no matter how many times he’s beaten, but whether he will run again in 2023 at 75 would to some extent be determined by the quest of Ndigbo to occupy the Aso Rock.
Born on November 25, 1946, in Jada, Adamawa State, Atiku became the only child of his parents when his only sister died at infancy. He attended Adamawa Provincial Secondary School, Yola, from 1960 to 1965. After graduation, he proceeded to the Nigeria Police College, Kaduna after which he worked as a tax officer in the regional Ministry of Finance.
He was admitted for a Law Diploma at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) on scholarship in 1967 and he later joined the Nigeria Customs Service on graduation in 1969. He held top Command positions and voluntarily retired in 1989 as Deputy Director, Enforcement and Drugs. He has interest in many business ventures encompassing manufacturing, real estate, oil and gas, agriculture, trading and education.
His foray into politics began in 1989. In 1998, he was elected governor of Adamawa State on the platform of the PDP before he was nominated as running mate to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in the presidential elections that year. On December 20, 2006, he became the presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress (AC) and lost in the elections. In 2011, he lost in the PDP presidential primary. On February 2, 2014, he defected from the PDP to the APC, and contested in the presidential primary but again lost. Citing clampdown on democracy by the APC after assuming power, he resigned from the party on November 24, 2017, and defected to the PDP on December 3, the same year.