Now that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, have appealed against the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), the matter will finally be decided at the Supreme Court. While Atiku had 35 grounds of appeal, Obi had 51. Altogether, both had 86 grounds of appeal before the Supreme Court. The apex court has 60 days to review the case and give its verdict, which will be the final verdict on the matter. Expectedly, the attention of Nigerians has been shifted to the Supreme Court.
After fixing our eyes on the judiciary for months to ensure that justice prevails on the presidential election matter, Nigerians will now turn their watchful eyes to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, for justice. Our gaze has now been shifted to the apex court. It is after the Supreme Court’s ruling that the winner can really dance and celebrate.
I believe that it is after the apex court’s judgement that the winner will be acknowledged and congratulated by those who lost. Nigerians also believe that it is after the final judgement that the healing process will commence. In fact, real governance will commence after that. The 2023 presidential election will go down in history as the most disputed election in the country. It is also the most hotly contested poll ever witnessed since our return to democracy in 1999. It remains the most contentious and acrimonious poll ever conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It is about the most divisive poll ever conducted in Nigeria. It is one poll that exposed our political, religious, ethnic and cultural differences. It is also one election the umpire failed to abide by its rules, an election the umpire overlooked the avoidable infractions that marred the poll. The disputations arising from most presidential elections in the country usually end at the Supreme Court. The only exception was the 2015 presidential poll in which former President Goodluck Jonathan readily conceded defeat and congratulated winner. He did so based on patriotism or for fear of violence or both. Whatever is the reason for his concession, Jonathan remains an idol of democracy. He should be emulated by other politicians. Unfortunately, not many are copying the worthy example of Jonathan. Any election will naturally produce a winner and a loser. Even after the Supreme Court’s intervention, some candidates would still go home with the impression that their mandate was stolen. That is where the legitimacy problem will crop up.
And no administration ever overcomes any legitimacy challenge. It is a badge of dishonor it will carry till the end. That is why some Nigerians are proposing that all post-election matters should be resolved before the inauguration of the winners. If this is done, the winners of elections will be free from the distraction arising from election petitions courts. They will be saved the agony of legitimacy challenge as well.
This is also where INEC should be roundly blamed for knowingly or unknowingly bungling the 2023 elections by not sticking to its rules, by reneging on its promise to conduct the best election ever in the history of Nigeria. This is also where we should blame former President Muhammadu Buhari for his failure to leave behind a culture of credible poll which he promised times without number. This is why we should blame all those who contributed to the electoral heist of 2023.
As our gaze turn to Supreme Court for justice, we urge the eminent jurists to uphold the constitution and pander to substantial justice in their judgement. They should dispassionately consider all issues and arrive at an acceptable verdict. The judiciary should stand up for justice. If the judiciary fails, it is obvious that this nascent democracy is bound to fail. If the judiciary fails, anarchy will eventually set in. If electoral brigandage is allowed to stay, the next election will be war, where every arsenal will be freely deployed. Voter apathy will be the order of the day and all demons associated with our peculiar democracy will erupt.
We need strong democratic institutions to guard and nurture our democracy. We need a truly independent INEC and not the one that will always kowtow to the dictates of those in power, the strong men of Nigerian politics. Our INEC as presently constituted is not so much independent. It is weak. It has no financial autonomy. It has so many limitations. It cannot even conduct a free, fair and credible poll even in off-cycle polls.
That is why blaming the chairman of INEC and some of its officials during and after every election cycle will never solve the problem. It is possible that the problem is bigger than them. That is why they should be pitied. Maybe, they are victims of a system that is made to fail in the first place. But if they are part of the malaise, they should be sanctioned. If INEC had conducted a credible poll and avoided compromising its rules, especially in relation to the transmission of results electronically, we would not be assailed with a plethora of post-election cases both at the state and federal levels. That the election witnessed many post-election cases is an indication of a poor job.
Moving forward, we must do away with our present penchant for a ‘do or die’ approach to politics or that we must win an election at all costs. Let our politicians embrace politics without bitterness. Let them see politics as a means to an end and not the end in itself. Politics is a call for patriotic service to the people and never an avenue to amass wealth and tyrannize the people. Our politicians should be selfless and be full of personal examples. Sadly, our politicians are selfish and most times self-serving and uncaring.
Of late, many of them have become emperors and despots using state resources as they like, while the people, the very reason why government exists are wallowing in abject poverty and penury. With our current approach to politics and governance, our democracy will soon die and Nigerians will never reap any of the so-called democracy dividends. I believe that this is the time to really change our attitude to politics and governance. Let our politics revolve around the welfare and security of the people.
This is the primary duty of government. Any government that fails to guarantee the security and welfare of the people has automatically failed. In reviewing the appeal arising from the PEPC verdict, let the justices of the Supreme Court restore the waning confidence in the judiciary by adhering to substantial justice rather than technical justice.