The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has indicated that it would approach the court on Tuesday, March 5, to challenge the outcome of the February 23 presidential election in Nigeria.
This comes as the PDP decried the silence of national leaders and members of the National Peace Committee over the irregularities that allegedly characterised said elections.
PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, stated this on Monday in Abuja at the Expanded PDP Caucus Meeting.
The mandate, according to Secondus, was stolen by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
“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.
“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”, Secondus told party leaders.
President Muhammadu Buhari had polled 15,191,847 votes, ahead of Atiku’s 11,262,978. Consequently, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, declared Buhari winner of the election.
Prominent Nigerians and organisations that have advised Atiku against approaching the court and to accept the election outcome in good faith include Olisa Agbakoba (Senior Advocate of Nigeria); former information minister, Tony Momoh; the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Forum of Political Parties for Good Governance, among others.
However, while alleging that officials of the electoral body were intimidated to carry out the bidding of the ruling party, Secondus condemned the government’s “use of the military to harass the electorate in some parts of the country, in the course of the elections.
“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.
“What happened during this election has never happened in the history of this country. They are celebrating criminality, they are celebrating evil. Our leaders are not talking and if you don’t speak against evil, it will consume everybody. The National Peace Committee is not saying anything.
“INEC and its ad-hoc staff were intimidated and everyone is quiet. If nothing is done, we will nosedive and go deeper and deeper in this situation we have found ourselves.”
He also said the party would petition the United Nations and the international community on the militarisation of the elections.
Some legal practitioners have bared their minds on the matter.
In an interview with BusinessDay on Monday, constitutional lawyer, Ralph Agama, described Atiku’s decision to approach the court as laudable.
He said 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.
“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.
He recalled that Buhari had full benefits of approaching the court when he lost presidential elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011.
He added: “The incumbent President who was declared winner of the February 23 election, had at several times contested with some other people and lost. And had also gone to court to challenge the outcome of those elections. He is at the other side today and people are challenging the election that brought him in. I believe that the Judiciary is the last hope of the common man”.
Also speaking on the matter, another legal practitioner, Shehu Bashir, said even though the PDP presidential candidate has the right to contest the election, the case is dead on arrival.
He submitted that contrary to Atiku’s claim, the election was free, fair and credible.
The development, he said, is an avenue for lawyers to take their ‘own piece of cake’.
He added: “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.
“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.”
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
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