Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has claimed that lack of decorum by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is posing a threat to the country’s nascent democracy.
In a statement issued by the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the ruling party said that it finds the indecorous and contemptuous actions and remarks by the leadership of the PDP worrisome.
“The disgraceful and senseless protest embarked upon by the opposition party is being done with the sole purpose of dragging the apex court of our land, and indeed our great country into odium and scorn before the international community.
“We also view the irascible actions and irresponsible remarks by the PDP as a calculated attempt to overheat the polity. PDP has become a present threat to our peaceful coexistence.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is important to put the issues PDP is reacting to in context.
On January 14, 2020 the Supreme Court delivered a bold and very remarkable judgment in the case involving the governorship election of Imo State.
“Like all judicial contests, there was a winner and there was a loser. The crux of the decision was that the PDP candidate (who had been adjudged to have been wrongfully declared the winner by the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Imo State) was removed by the apex court and Sen. Hope Uzodinma of our party was declared the rightful winner of the election.
“The court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a Certificate of Return to Sen. Hope Uzodinma and that he should be sworn in as the governor of Imo State. This decision by the apex court was not made lightly but was, in fact, based on the facts presented by the parties and the law canvassed before it by their respective counsels.
“How else should a court of law determine a case before it? Based on innuendos, conjecture, suspicions and conspiracy theories? Certainly not. Since then, the PDP has issued press statements and made a series of wild and unsubstantiated allegations as well as casting aspersion at the court for its decision.
“We know that the PDP will find justice served by our courts very hard to swallow because it had become accustomed to crooked manipulation of due process to its benefit and at the expense of the entire system. Weaning it from this bad modus operandi has proved difficult if not impossible. Every time the PDP loses in court, it declares the decision suspect and our democracy on life support.
“For the records, APC, through no fault of ours, even as the ruling party, has suffered monumental losses in our courts in respect of elections conducted in 2019. Let us start with Rivers State where the party was deprived an opportunity to even field any candidate.
“Never before had such an occurrence been experienced in our political history. What many do not appreciate is that the decision that led to this state of affairs was itself the first of its kind in our history since 1960.
“The court determined that a case which, in every material particular, arose in respect of congresses which are held before elections, constituted a pre-election matter and consequently was said to have contaminated the legal ability of the party to even nominate candidates for the general election.
“As a result, the PDP, who was the sole beneficiary of this decision, had a clear run for all the elective offices in Rivers State. APC did not produce a governorship candidate as well as candidates for the three Senatorial seats, 11 House of Representative seats and 32 State House of Assembly seats. In essence, APC lost out in 46 elective positions even before the starter pistol was fired! We took it in our stride.
“What about Zamfara State? We won every elective position in Zamfara State. However, when the court determined that all the votes willfully given to us by the good people of Zamfara State were wasted votes (which again was the first of its kind in our electoral jurisprudence), the APC lost everything.
“In essence, we went to bed occupying all 35 elective offices in Zamfara State and woke up occupying none on account of the decision of the court. We did not bring down the nation but accepted our loss because democracy is as much about losing as it is about winning in any election contest.
“We have just lost Sokoto State governorship to PDP on account of the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court. We should state that the judgement is completely strange to our expectation based on the facts before us.
“For the record, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwa, the current governor of Sokoto State, is on his seat with 324 votes with over 30,000 cancelled votes in the March governorship election. PDP does not see anything wrong in this, but it is comfortable with Emeka Ihedioha occupying the governorship seat in Imo State for seven months without meeting the constitutional requirement of 25 percent in two-third of the local government councils in the state.
“Unlike PDP, we are not going to behave like spoilt brats and threatened the peace of the country over the surprising judgement of the Supreme Court on the Sokoto State seat.
“As our records show, APC has lost several seats in the Senate, House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly across the country. Many have offered real confusion as the decisions departed from our knowledge of our electoral laws. Yet, we have carried ourselves with candour and dignity even in defeat.
“It is against this backdrop that we find the reckless and insensitive actions by the PDP in reaction to the Judgment of the apex court regarding Imo State very irresponsible and indeed contemptuous. The PDP, without any scintilla or iota of fact, has alleged bribery, inducement, coercion and collusion between the Executive arm of government and the judiciary.
“These are very weighty allegations that can completely undermine any democracy and damage our judiciary beyond repairs. It is therefore incumbent on the PDP to provide the evidence to back these senseless allegations.
“In any democracy, no one should be allowed to inflame tempers within the polity, set the nation alight with such damaging allegations thereby threatening its peaceful coexistence and retire to his own home in peace as if he has done nothing.
“All those behind the statements issued by the PDP pouring invectives on our judiciary and leveling baseless allegations against the executive arm of government should feel ashamed of themselves.
“The question to ask the PDP is whether the same Executive arm it accuses today were not the same ones in government when APC lost over 100 elective positions to court decisions? Why did the same executives not intervene to stop it and could that have even happened if indeed there was any form of collusion with the judiciary.
“The PDP must not lend its platform to conspiracy theorists, propagandists and rumour peddlers if it wants to be taken seriously as a partner in our democratic experience. It must accept the role of a responsible opposition or face the wrath of Nigerians who cherish their hard-earned democracy and will do all to defend it,” the statement read..