September 6 is one day Nigerians will never forget in a hurry, at least, for the next eight years, events of that day will continue to cloud the minds of Nigerians.
This is especially if the administration of President Bola Tinubu fails to deliver it ‘Renewed Hope’ promises.
Many people have various description of this memorable day. To many, it was the day the judiciary failed Nigerians and to others, it was a day of celebration.
Indeed, the events of that day unfolded like a theatrical piece put together by an art director spiced with suspense, humour and of course, numerous actors to bring the purpose of the day to reality.
Events Of The Day
Every part of the country was busy on that faithful day, even the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) strike, which was on at the time could not keep people home.
On one side was the NLC strike, on another side was the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal judgement and on the other side, crowds of protesters littered the streets in fractions.
Yet, there are others calling for justice from the Tribunal and those threatening chaos if the Tribunal Court does otherwise.
Indeed, it was an eventful day. The armed security personnels that flooded the streets left many wondering if the country was under attack or resisting one.
Judgement Day
While the court events unfolded, some Nigerians who had hoped that the Tribunal would overturn the result of the 2023 presidential election in favour of their candidate began losing the remain fraction of their hopes.
The expression on their faces said it all, to them, Justice Tsammani is reading a script well written by his pay masters.
“What a shame”, they exclaimed, as they reacted to his stuttering manner of reading a judgment he wrote.
“Did Justice Tsammani write this judgment himself?”, others who could not hide their dismay questioned.
No Evidence
Things got to a climax when the Tribunal declared that the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi did not present any evidence in court, a declaration that threw the whole nation in awe.
The surprise here is that Obi during the hearing of his petition rolled out boxes filled with evidence to prove his case.
In fact, he was hailed by many for such preparations, as if he had known that moment would come.
The Tribunal went on and on with numerous quotes of the Nigerian constitution and heavy vocabularies leaving many lawyers, party supporters and Nigerians who went to keep their eyes on the judiciary sleeping almost throughout the day.
Did You Miss? How Tribunal Judgment Upheld Tinubu’s Victory
It was not until evening, when Nigerians were lost in their sleep that the Tribunal announced its final verdict. The Tribunal upheld Tinubu’s victory.
Obi Is To Blame
The tension of what would happen had died down, as Nigerians sleep through the night.
Thought ran through their heads, by the time it was morning, everything returned to normal, as if nothing happened.
It is crystal clear that many Nigerians are not happy with the verdict of the court, however, it is too late, if anything was to happen, it should have been on the judgement day.
Many of these people also blame Peter Obi. The reason is because they had called for a heavy protest after Tinubu was declared the winner of the election by INEC, but Obi called for calm.
Many of his supporters had already predicted what played out on the judgement and for the first time, Nigerians appeared like masters of forecast.
Despite the willingness Obi supporters showed to storm the streets and reclaim his stolen mandate, the former governor of Anambra State insisted that peace is supreme.
On the other hand, he opted for the diplomatic approach, the Election Petition Tribunal.
Now, the Tribunal judgement is in Tinubu’s favour/ Will Peter Obi truly go to the Supreme Court and spend money to pay lawyers who can even predict the outcome of that process?
