Anxiety, tension, uncertainty as Nigerians await PEPT verdict

By Sunday Ani

Uncertainty, anxiety and tension from different quarters seem to have enveloped the Nigerian political space as the people await the final judgment of the five Justices that heard the petitions filed by the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election.

Every day, starting from the day all the parties closed their cases at the tribunal, the expectation of Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora keeps rising and falling. The situation has become so tense and ominous that Nigerians are no longer comfortable with the long wait. They are beginning to smell the proverbial rat that there are subterranean moves to influence the outcome of the ruling, hence their resolve to start a gentle revolution to keep the judges on their toes. To underscore how serious and precarious the situation has become, and how determined Nigerians are to ensure that justice is done to the petitions, they have gone ahead to produce hundreds of T-shirts and bags that are clearly engraved with the words: “Presidential Election Tribunal: All eyes on the judiciary; judiciary save our democracy.” And the patronage is spreading like wildfire as many Nigerians now wear the shirts and carry the handbags as they move around, thus sending a strong signal to the judiciary that Nigerians expect them to do their work without fear or favour.

At present, Nigerians are filled with great expectations that the judges would rule based on the facts and figures presented before them and not on technicalities or any other consideration.

How it all started

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on March 1, four days after the presidential election held on February 25, announced Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election and president-elect.

According to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to beat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who came second with 6,984,520, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who placed third with 6,101,533.

The INEC Chairman stressed that by that score, Tinubu had met the first constitutional requirement of garnering the highest votes among all the candidates. He said he also scored over 25 percent of the votes cast in 30 states, which are more than the 24 states that are constitutionally required.

With this declaration, many Nigerians felt that INEC had neglected a very important constitutional requirement, which states that a candidate must score 25 percent of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to be declared president of Nigeria. From the INEC records, only the LP candidate who came third met that requirement. Tinubu and Atiku did not. But, INEC, in its own wisdom, did not consider that as enough reason to deny Tinubu the victory, having scored the highest number of votes cast in the election, and having scored 25 percent in more than 24 states of the federation.

However, that declaration did not go down well with the LP candidate and his counterpart in the PDP, as they felt that apart from the fact that Tinubu did not score 25 percent of the votes cast in the FCT as required by the constitution, the election was also marred by irregularities. They were of the view that Tinubu did not win and that INEC was wrong to have declared him as the winner. 

And what followed was a legal action from both candidates at the PEPT, which had already been set up and waiting to receive petitions from the aggrieved candidates.

Obi goes to court

So, on March 21, 2023, Obi approached the PEPT with a petition to challenge Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election.

He alleged that the election was characterised by irregularities, ranging from rigging to manipulation of election results, intimidation and suppression of voters, destruction of ballot boxes and papers, and thuggery among others, including the fact that Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, were not qualified to contest the election in the first instance.

He also alleged that Tinubu did not score the majority of the lawful votes cast in the election, and did not get 25 percent of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja, which is a constitutional requirement that must be met before one can be declared president of Nigeria. He equally alleged that the election was conducted in substantial non-compliance with the provisions of the law.

Obi’s first grounds of non-qualification was hinged on the fact that at the time of the presidential election, Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election because he was fined $460,000 for an offence involving narcotics trafficking imposed by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in case N0:93C 4483 between the United States of America and Bola Tinubu.

The second grounds of non-qualification was that Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, had two nominations for two separate constituencies – as Borno Central senatorial candidate and as vice-presidential candidate in the same election cycle.

Obi equally contended that Tinubu was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast in each of at least two-third of the states of the federation and the FCT, Abuja.

He submitted that Tinubu was not entitled to be declared the winner of the election having failed to score one-quarter of the lawful votes cast in the FCT in the election.

In his two main prayers, he urged the court to declare Tinubu and his running mate, Shettima, unqualified to contest the February 25 presidential election and that Tinubu did not score a majority of the lawful votes cast in the election.

He asked the court to declare that he satisfied the constitutional requirements to be declared the winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election, after the deduction of alleged illegal votes from Tinubu’s scores.

In the second main prayer, he again urged the court to invalidate Tinubu’s victory due to his failure to win one-quarter of the lawful votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

Obi’s third prayer, which was put forward as an alternative, urged the court to cancel the election and order the INEC to conduct a fresh one.

In his fourth prayer, he repeated his claim that he won the election because he secured the majority of the lawful votes cast during the February 25 election. He, therefore, urged the court to declare him the president-elect, and order the INEC to issue him a certificate of return. He also urged the court to void the certificate of return wrongly issued to Tinubu.

Atiku in court

In the same vein, the PDP candidate, Atiku, also filed a petition on the same March 21, challenging Tinubu’s election. In his petition, Atiku asked the presidential election court to either declare him the winner of the February 25 presidential election or nullify the election and order a rerun.

To prove his case, he called 27 witnesses and tendered tons of electoral documents. While closing his case, Atiku made some prayers, which include that Tinubu was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast, and therefore his victory is unlawful, wrongful, unconstitutional, and should be voided;  that at the time of the election, Tinubu was not qualified to contest the said election; that the return of Tinubu by the INEC was wrongful, unlawful, undue, null and void, having not satisfied the requirements of the Electoral Act and constitution, which mandatorily requires Tinubu to score not less than one quarter of the lawful votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and that the court should declare him the winner as he scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the presidential election among others.

In the alternative, he also asked the court to direct the electoral body to conduct a second election (run-off) between him and Tinubu.

Tinubu/Shettima, APC and INEC

respond

Having closed their cases, the respondents, in this case, the INEC, the APC, Tinubu and Shetima, asked the tribunal to give them one week to open their defences; a request the five-member panel presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani graciously granted and fixed July 3 for them to open their cases.

However, closing their defence, Tinubu and Shetima, alongside their party, the APC, through their lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun and Lateef Fagbemi tendered several documents, with only one witness to testify in aid of their counter-arguments against the issues raised by Atiku and Obi.

Counsels to Tinubu, Shetima and the APC as well as that of the INEC countered all the arguments raised by the petitioners and prayed the court to dismiss the petitions. For example, they argued that the issue of 25 percent of votes cast in the FCT is illogical as it goes against the express provision of the constitution. “The FCT must be treated as if it were a state. We submit that the case for noncompliance has not been made, the FCT argument has to fall flat,” the lawyers argued, praying the court to dismiss the petition.

With the close of arguments by all the parties in the case on Tuesday, August 1, the over three months’ legal fireworks were dropped in the court of the five-man panel, who would give their judgment before September 16, when the suit is expected to elapse. The petitions were filed on March 21 but hearing in the substantive suits began in May, lasting for three months.

At the close of arguments, the respected Jurists had told the parties and Nigerians that the Day of Judgment would be communicated to them in due course.

Nigerians react while awaiting tribunal’s ruling

However, as Nigerians await the verdict of the tribunal amid tension, anxiety and great expectations, discussions and opinions on the possible outcome have not ceased, even as some others have decided to keep sealed lips until the judgment is passed.

There are those who have expressed fear that whichever way the judgment goes, there could still be some pockets of protests. But, those who hold this view also believe that the greater danger would befall the country if the judgment goes against the will of the people. They fear that if it happens that way, spontaneous protests which could snowball into a people’s revolution cannot be ruled out.

There are others who have been raising the alarm that there have been subterranean moves by the powers that be to intimidate the judges and influence their judgment. So many people have been fingered in the move, by people within the government and those outside the government but are believed to be working for the government.

Yet, there are those who have plainly and honestly advised the Judges to remain resolute, undaunted and fearless, and to pass their judgment based on the facts and figures presented before them, and not based on technicalities. They warned that any decision that ignores the facts and figures and decides to go with technicality would surely spell doom for the nation. 

But, there are those who believe that the judges will always be compromised and that if anybody is expecting any justice from the judgment, disappointment would be the lot of such persons as the judges would always dance to the tune of the powers that be. To this class of Nigerians, they are not expecting the Judges to do anything outside what has been written down for them by the government. 

However, an APC chieftain and former member of the Katsina State House of Assembly, Hon Yusuf Shehu has refused to accept that the Judges are not capable of taking the right decisions. He believes that the Judges would live up to their bidding and surprise those who have lost faith in them. He is among those who advised that the Judges must look at the issues before them conscientiously and deliver judgment without fear or favour.

He said: “I have always maintained that justice is truth, transparency, honesty, and giving right to those who deserve it. So, I advise the judges handling all cases, not only the election petition cases, to be above board and do the right thing. They should listen to the doctrine of their vocation. I believe in the Nigerian judicial system and as I said earlier, justice is doing the right thing.”

He reminded the Judges that there is another Judge that would judge them in the hereafter. “Therefore, they have a great responsibility to do what is right without fear or favour, so that democracy can thrive in Nigeria. The Nigerian judges have done their best. We have commended them in so many instances, where they upturned elections in favour of the opposition and against the ruling party. They should continue on the same path now by looking at all the evidence before them as they pass their judgement.

“They should be able to make a decision that will be accepted by the majority of Nigerians and people of other countries who are watching us. That is the expectations of Nigerians from them,” he stated.

Again, president of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr. Pogu Bitrus, also believes that the Judges would not cave in to pressures, knowing full well that the law is the final arbiter and last hope of the common man. “Nigerians believe that all those injustices, abnormalities, and disregards for constitutionality that the INEC has done or committed would be exposed and judgment given appropriately and accordingly. Somebody walks in, changes results from the polling units, destroys result sheets and refuses to upload results and others; the laws of the nation are so clear on some of these things. And we believe that the Judges will do the needful. “They will do the right thing and make a pronouncement that will save the nation because today, our hope is on them. The INEC has done the wrong thing and that is why we are in court. If the right thing was done and the right person declared after the right thing had been done, I believe some people will not even petition or go to court but they are in court because they believe that the wrong things were done by INEC,” he said.

He also cautioned the Judges to save the country from unnecessary chaos that could erupt from any wrong judgment by looking at the issues before them holistically and conscientiously, and delivering a sound judgment that would meet the wishes and aspirations of the majority of Nigerians.

“Some people believe that the constitutional requirement for someone to be president was not there, yet the INEC pronounced somebody the president. They know the law requires that a candidate needs 25 percent votes in the FCT to be president; so, let us not deceive ourselves. Nigerians are expecting the right thing to be done by giving them the right judgment, and we believe that they will do the right thing,” he submitted.

For Mr. Marcellus Onah, a lawyer and public affairs commentator, he believes that Nigerians are going through very difficult and rough times, and would not want the Judges to toy with their destiny. He believes that even the Judges could read the political temperature of the country and would not do anything that could test the fragile peace in the country. He also believes that the Judges would look at the facts before them and pass their judgment. “They understand that Nigerians are very angry and are just waiting for the judgment to know the next line of action. Anything contrary to what everybody knows could throw the country into an unimaginable crisis and I am sure the Judges are aware of that. So, I don’t think they will bring the issue of technicality here. This one is so volatile that they would look at the substance of the case before they make any decision. I am sure they know what Nigerians are expecting from them and they will not disappoint Nigerians. Many people have lost faith in the judiciary, so this is a great opportunity for them to prove the naysayers wrong,” he stated.