All eyes are on the judiciary because of the ongoing trial of the outcome of the 2023 presidential Election at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal as a date has been reserved by the tribunal to deliver judgment on the petitions filed by Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP
By Joshua Chiemerie
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, lost his elements recently when reports credited to Jackson Udeh, publisher of online newspapers, Point Blank emerged that he was on telephone conversation with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Ariwoola in desperation issued a press release through the Supreme Court insisting that he never had telephone conversation with Tinubu, an assertion that Udeh had faulted, adding that the conversation was intercepted and he stands by his story on the matter. Since the constitution of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Ariwoola has been allegedly fingered to be tilted into doing the biding of Tinubu in making sure that nothing comes out of the tribunal. At the outset of the composition of the members of the tribunal Ariwoola was alleged to have met with Tinubu in London to discuss the possible way to allegedly frustrate the Tribunal, allegation the former had denied feebly. Facts at the disposal of this medium revealed that actually Ariwoola was in London in disguise, and was sighted at the hotel lobby where Tinubu lodged at the material time.
Ariwoola’s spin doctors in a response to the allegation accepted that he was in London but on a medical trip and has nothing to do with meeting with Tinubu, adding that as at the time of the visit, he was there to see his private doctor not any meeting with anybody, Tinubu inclusive. The spin doctors of the CJN insisted that the report that he held meeting with Tinubu was falsehood that should be disregarded by the electorate because such meeting never took place in the first place.
The allegation of the CJN hobnobbing with Tinubu was still trending when it was reported that one of the five Justices on the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal purportedly resigned on the ground that there was excessive pressure from the presidency for the judgment to be delivered in favour of Tinubu. It was also gathered that the Justice who allegedly resigned said that acceding to such request would be tantamount to democracy being atrophied, and he cannot be party to such arrangement because it would not end democracy but will seriously weaken the judiciary in the country. The Appeal Court had since come out to deny the allegation that one of the Appeal Court Justices resigned, saying that it was the figment of the imagination of the peddlers of such rumour, insisting that no Justice on the panel resigned.
However, information at the disposal of Tentacle revealed that there may have been a protestation by the Justice in question against the pressure and threats allegedly from the Tinubu’s handlers which are aimed at intimidating the panel to legitimize Tinubu presidency by hook or crook. According to the information, the Department of State Service, DSS was allegedly used by the presidency to cajole the Justice to rescind his decision and save himself from further investigation by the DSS. It was gathered that the Justice had insisted that he must be allowed to do his job without undue interference from the presidency. An informed source in the CJN office hinted that there has been intense pressure from the Tinubu handlers to skew the judgment in their principal’s favour but some radical Justices in the panel are not ready to recapitulate to any pressure from any quarters, adding that the Justices are of the opinion that any move to disparage democracy by the virtue of any flawed judgment would impact negatively on the fragile democracy in the country.
David Hundeyin, an investigative journalist in series of his expose on Tinubu averred that he is not fit to even contest the presidency of the country in the first place because of his link with narcotic drugs in the United States of America, insisting that a court of competent jurisdiction in the United States of America delivered a judgment which indicted Tinubu and led to his forfeiture of a humongous $460,000 for a plea bargain. According to Hundeyin, even some of the places that Tinubu claimed to have worked when he lived in US have been discovered to be false. He said that even the university he claimed he attended is shrouded in controversy. The records made available to the public by the University of Chicago revealed that the transcript of the degree that Tinubu is parading is owned by a woman. The records insisted that there is no trace of Tinubu as the student of the University but a female who happens to bear the same surname with him. The investigative journalist said that for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to have cleared him to contest for the highest office in the land is an aberration. He said that action of INEC has already tarred the nation’s image with fraudulent brush.
Lawyer to the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Tinubu, Abdullateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN had at the final address to the court issued a subtle threat to the Justices that ruling in favour of the petitioners is a recipe for anarchy in the country, and that it is unheard of that presidential election is cancelled in the country since the inception of democracy in 1999. According to the learned silk, the court should throw away the petitions because it is like flogging a dead horse based on the ground the petitioners prayed for the cancellation of the results or disqualification of their client in the matter.
In a counter motion, the lawyers of the PDP and LP have cautioned Tinubu not to intimidate the Justices handling the case. Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, the lead counsel for LP and Obi said that for the APC and Tinubu’s lawyers to threaten the Justices with anarchy in the land if they do not do their bidding amounts to hijacking the judiciary to deliver judgment in their favour. Uzoukwu insisted that nothing would happen if the Tribunal is seen to have delivered justice not judgment in the matter, adding that the evidence is overwhelming to disqualify Tinubu because he never met the constitutional requirement for contesting for the office of President of the country. The learned silk argued that the ruling APC should not stifle the judiciary because that would amount to destruction of democracy which is not good for the country that is buffeted by economic dislocation as well as insecurity that has ravaged the land since the inception of the APC- led government in the country.
In the same vein, the lead lawyer of Atiku at the Tribunal, Chris Uche, SAN cautioned that threat as issued on the court by Tinubu is worrisome because that is pure interference with the judiciary work in the land, and should be discouraged by well meaning Nigerians. Uche said that for Tinubu to openly threatened the court he is trying to be dictatorial as the President of the country, It was gathered that there is clandestine move by the ruling APC to armtwist the Tribunal using baseless legal technicalities, and to make whatever judgment that is churned out to be seen as if justice has been served in the matter.
Some of the spectators of the activities of the Tribunal are taken aback that the lawyers representing Tinubu at the Tribunal glossed over the constitutional matters which concerns the educational qualification of Tinubu as there is no record of his Primary and Secondary certificates anywhere in the country. Evidences show that Tinubu has none of these certificates to show. Again, they are surprised that the issue of 25 per cent score in Abuja is being relegated to mere legal technicalities, even when it is obvious that since 1999 all the Presidents have scored the required 25 per cent in the votes cast in Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, why would the case of Tinubu be subjected to unnecessary interpretation by the lawyers who are trying to rewrite the English meaning of the word “and”.
Another knotty issue is the double nomination of the Vice President Kashim Shettima who was nominated as a Senatorial candidate of his party before he was nominated as the running mate of Tinubu in the election, and failed to relinquish his senatorial nomination within the stipulated time according to the 2022 Electoral Act as amended. The lawyers of Tinubu in the matter looked the other way when they were responding to the evidences in this regard.
Analysts who spoke to this medium are of the opinion that the perceived interference with the activities of the Tribunal by the government of the day does not augur well for the democratic derivables in the country, therefore should be discouraged as quick as possible to make this country move forward. According to the analysts efforts should be made to make sure that the Justices at the Tribunal are not harassed by any agency of the government in the course of the discharge of their duty to the nation because the consequences could be dangerous.
“I think the Justices at the Tribunal should be allowed to function and should be seen by the public as having delivered justice in the matter. Anything short of that is calling for civil disobedience which impact would be negative. Our politicians should learn from other countries that refused to dance to the rule of law in their various countries, and see how they ended. Politicians should not be seen to escalate despondence in the land encouraged by the anti-people policies of the current administration and the fact that his legitimacy is being seriously challenged at the Tribunal should humble the administration, and allow the judiciary to be seen as the last hope of the common man in the country”, Ngene Stanley, a retired banker and social commentator advised.
