The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday indicated that it would approach the court on Tuesday, March 5, to challenge the outcome of the February 23 presidential election and reclaim its mandate which, it said, was stolen by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The main opposition PDP also decried the silence of national leaders and members of the National Peace Committee over the irregularities that allegedly characterised the election.
“The decision to go to court has been finalised and agreed and the process is on. The lawyers have been assembled. We may be in court tomorrow (Tuesday). No one can stop us,” Uche Secondus, PDP national chairman, said at the Expanded PDP Caucus Meeting in Abuja on Monday.
“No matter the propaganda of APC, we will seek justice till the last drop of our blood. We believe justice will be done and God almighty will give justice,” he told party leaders.
Buhari polled 15,191,847 votes ahead of Atiku’s 11,262,978. Consequently, Mahmood Yakubu, chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared Buhari winner of the election.
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP, rejected the outcome of the election and pledged to challenge it in court.
Prominent Nigerians and organizations, including Olisa Agbakoba, a senior advocate of Nigeria, have advised Atiku against approaching the court but to accept the election outcome in faith. But the main opposition party and its candidate have insisted on taking the legal route.
“Nothing will make us waver in the pursuit of justice. The decision to go to court has been finalised and the process has begun. We will file our petition today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday). No matter what anyone will do or what the APC will say, we will seek justice to the highest court of the land,” Secondus said on Monday.
He also said the party would petition the United Nations and the international community on the militarisation of the elections.
But lawyers have been divided over Atiku’s decision to go to court.
Ralph Agama, a constitutional lawyer, described Atiku’s decision to approach the court as laudable, adding it is the constitutional right of an aggrieved person to seek legal redress in the law court.
“Atiku’s decision to approach the court is the best thing that could happen to our democracy. Until we learn to use the constitutional framework to develop our democratic institutions, we will not get it right. If there are people from any quarters saying he should not go to court, are those people now saying he should take laws into his hands? The answer is no because that will not better the lot of Nigerians, neither will it add value to our democratic practice,” Agama said.
“So, I feel his decision to approach the court to challenge the outcome of the election is the best thing that should be done rather than going to declare that he is forming a parallel government, which will cause a state of anarchy in the country,” he said.
Buhari had thrice approached the courts to challenge the outcome of the elections when he lost his presidential bid in 2003, 2007 and 2011, although nothing positive came out of it.
“Atiku is entitled to go to court provided he is not raising a false alarm. It is one thing to go to court and make a claim, it is another thing to lie against others. The choice to go to court is up to him. This does not necessarily mean he has a good case. It may just be for showmanship,” Shehu Bashir, a legal practitioner, said.
“As far as I am concerned and as far as most Nigerians are concerned, this election has been adjudged free and fair. He is probably looking for a way to whip up sentiment for whatever reason. There is nothing wrong for him going to court so long as he is exercising his constitutional right. But I don’t see him succeeding in whatever he is wishing for. For me, it is going to be an exercise in futility,” he said.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
