One undeniable element of Nigerian politics is the fact that it is very easy to predict. Indeed, like many Nigerian movies the end point can easily be predicted, even from the very beginning.
After the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, as the winner of the election, some aggrieved Nigerians wanted to protest the outcome.
The exact reason this category of persons brought forward played out at the Tribunal.
Now, these predictions have come to pass. The Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, has rejected the ruling that upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu.
The Verdict
The Tribunal, on Wednesday, affirmed Bola Tinubu as the rightful winner of the election.
Also, the Tribunal held that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, did not successfully prove his petition seeking to remove Tinubu from office.
The court also struck out the petition filed by the LP and Obi for lack of merit while ruling on whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was right to return Tinubu as duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast.
The Next Move
Speaking through his team of lawyers led by Dr Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) after the court sitting on Wednesday night, Obi vowed to appeal the judgement of the Tribunal.
Many people already predicted this move.
iBrandTV in a previous publication also predicted this as the next move for the opposition parties if Tinubu triumphs at the Tribunal.
The former Governor of Anambra warned that if care was not taken, the electoral jurisprudence would disappear in Nigeria, stressing that the court process should be seamless.
The Obstacles
According to him, the petitioners, who are dissatisfied with the outcome of an election, may resort to self-help.
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This is if they continue to find it very difficult to establish their case owing to obstacles from government institutions like INEC.
“If we are not careful, our electoral jurisprudence will eventually disappear. I am saying this with every amount of sincerity.
“Because when the litigant who contested the election continue to find it very difficult to establish their case due to obstacles on the way, starting with INEC.
“They may resort to some other means of trying to get justice, which may not be lawful.”
Transparency
The LP flagbearer also commended the Court of Appeal for introducing live-streaming of the judgement to guarantee transparency and accountability.
“Also, I commend the Court of Appeal for introducing live streaming.”
“You may recall that we applied to the court to have a live streaming of all the proceedings, but the court, in its wisdom, did not grant the application.
“But now, in the end, they saw the wisdom in it and the need to guarantee transparency, hence, live streaming of the judgement.
“Certainly, it would have been better if it was live streaming of the entire proceedings so that the public would have the chance to watch and be able to relate properly with the judgement.
“So, I will hope and pray that this time, it will be continuous, starting from the beginning of a case.
“That is the only way that you can guarantee transparency because when something is open, Nigerians will see things for themselves, and they will make up their minds, one way or the other,” Peter Obis said.
