The Chairman of Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Pastor Dayo Ekong, has expressed disappointment at the verdict of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC), saying that the system has failed the people.

The Tribunal had on Wednesday, affirmed President Bola Tinubu as the duly elected president of Nigeria.

Tinubu was on March 1, 2023, declared winner of the February 25 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

But not satisfied with the outcome of the election, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) and Peter Obi of LP had filed separate petitions at PEPC, challenging the declaration of Tinubu as the duly elected president of Nigeria.

However, in a consolidated judgment on Wednesday, Justice Haruna Tsammani who led a five-man panel of the tribunal, dismissed the petitions for lack of merit.

The tribunal said Obi, Atiku and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), failed to prove allegations in their respective petitions seeking to overturn the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate’s victory.

Reacting to the Tribunal verdict on Thursday, Ekong in a message to party supporters in the state, urged them not to lose hope.

She called on supporters not to allow themselves to be weighed down, but brace up for the battle ahead.

According to Ekong, Obi has shown what is possible, adding that now is not the time to lose hope nor to give up.

She said: “It’s no secret that the system has failed us. Political bullies, a judiciary that can’t be trusted to deliver justice and social injustices has led to feelings of helplessness and frustration. In these moments, it’s natural to question whether true change will ever materialise.

“Rather than losing hope, we should remember what has been achieved so far. His Excellency Peter Obi has shown us what is possible. Now is not the time to lose hope nor to give up because it is what THEY want you to do. They are ruiners and spoilers and we must see this through to the end.

“We refuse to accept defeat and we owe it to our generations yet unborn to continue to push and fight for what we know is right, just and true.

“Do not allow yourself to be weighed down. Take a deep breath and brace yourselves; for the battle will be long and tough, however, we will triumph!!!”

Ekong also urged the supporters to pray and not faint, and trust in God as they continue to demand for a better Nigeria.

“Let us trust in God to guide us even as we continue to demand for the Nigeria which we all love and cherish.

“God is God and still on the throne. We need to pray and not faint nor be weary. It’s important to overcome territorial powers and blockers of destiny.

“I say a new Nigeria is possible,” she added.

President Bola Tinubu, who is currently in India for the G-20 Summit, shared his conviction with Nigerians during an interaction with them on Thursday evening.

The President called on Nigerians to harness the country's rich diversity as a uniquely powerful tool for advancing prosperity and national development for the benefit of all citizens, emphasizing that our diversity must be leveraged to drive economic growth, innovation, and social progress.

"We are here to present a new future to you. A future of a country that is so rich, endowed, and highly populated. Very dynamic, unique in its culture, tradition, and ethnicity. That is what will make our prosperity possible, if only we can make use of our diversity for prosperity," he implored.

President Tinubu also told the meeting that he ran for the highest office in the country because of the fact that, despite the great human and natural resource wealth of the nation, the leadership and public sector management deficit in the country held Nigeria back from manifest destiny.

"We are not poor in knowledge. We are not poor in human resources. We are only poor in management and leadership, and that is why I ran for president, to help all of us mould the soul of our country in the right direction," the President said.

Reflecting on the trajectory of his life, which prepared him for leadership, the President told the meeting that was attended by several Nigerian students studying in India, that with dedication, honesty, determination, and a change of mindset, they can reach for the top in their respective careers.

"Good education brought me here and I am happy to stand before you here as the President of Nigeria. I started small. I was a security guard. I was tutor in school. I was a brilliant student. I joined Deloitte and was trained by one of the biggest accounting firms in the world, because of my education," the President recollected.

"When I joined them, I asked them, do you have branches in Nigeria and they said, 'we have a lot of clients that will take you, if you want to go home.' That's how I got to Exxon Mobil and was a very successful accountant, auditor-general, and treasurer, until I joined politics with a can-do attitude.

"You can also do it; do not be despondent in any way. Nigeria is ready to accommodate all. It does not matter which part of Nigeria you are from," the President exclaimed.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, while addressing the students, explained that President Tinubu's foreign policy thrust included four Ds, with one of them being Diaspora, which focuses on improving the quality of services that Nigerians in the Diaspora receive at Nigerian Missions abroad.

"The issue of passport delays will be a thing of the past. You won't have to wait indefinitely for your passports to be ready. Secondly, you are the first point of contact between Nigerians and other countries. We can't grow beyond what our people project. That is why it is very important for you to project a consistently positive image of Nigeria online and off-line," Nigeria's Chief Diplomat said.

Earlier, Business magnate, Mr. Tony Elumelu, told pressmen that Nigeria was the best place to invest and that a bet on Nigerians is one of the best bets anyone can ever make, citing Nigerian success in all countries of the world.

"We believe in Africa, but especially in Nigeria. An investment in Nigeria promises a return that is scarcely found anywhere in the world and I do business across several continents," the Africapitalist concluded.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party has rejected the judgement of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, describing it as “not conterminous with justice.”

Obi who spoke today at Onitsha acknowledged the PEPC's adherence to statutory time frames, expressed respect for the Court's views and rulings but openly disagreed with the judgment's rationale and final conclusions. He announced his intention, in his capacity as a presidential candidate and on behalf of the Labour Party, to immediately challenge this judgment through the appellate process, as permitted by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Highlighting the fact that the PEPC is not the ultimate authority in this matter, Obi emphasized that the responsibility now rests with the Supreme Court, which he expressed confidence in. He urged Nigerians to maintain their focus, steadfastness, and commitment to peaceful processes while emphasizing the importance of adhering to the rule of law. He made it clear that the matter has not yet reached its logical conclusion.

Obi revealed that his legal team has already received firm instructions to file an appeal against the PEPC's decision. He expressed unwavering determination in his pursuit of justice, not only for himself but also for the multitude of supporters across the nation whose electoral mandate he said was unjustly thwarted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Obi underscored the pivotal role of solid national institutions and the public's confidence in them for a thriving democracy. He pointed out that electoral litigations could be significantly reduced if INEC discharged its statutory functions transparently and fairly. However, when such bodies falter, as he said INEC did in this case, the judiciary becomes an imperative recourse.

In closing, Obi extended his gratitude to every Nigerian who has supported their cause and the campaign for a New Nigeria built on principles of fairness, equity, justice, the rule of law, peace, prosperity, inclusiveness, sustainable growth, and development. He specifically thanked his legal team, the Labour Party, the Obidient Family, and all those who steadfastly attended the court proceedings. His message concluded with a blessing for all Nigerians and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I will take the time to analyze the just delivered judgment of the court of appeal in Obi /Atiku V Tinubu’s Presidential election petition subsequently but before then, this is what I need you to know about not just election petitions but every other court proceedings in general. 

As a politician, try as much as possible to win the election and for you to be declared elected or returned elected. The reason for this is that there is a higher chance of the court affirming your election than sacking you. In fact, in all the presidential election petition cases that have ever taken place in Nigeria since 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy, the court has never sacked an elected president, rather the court always affirmed their election. 

Despite the promises your lawyers have made to you, you should know that it is extremely difficult and technical to prove that an election was rigged in today’s Nigeria. This is not an injustice or judicial problem but a statutory problem. The threshold that is been provided in the constitution, the electoral act and other statutes for an aggrieved contester to meet before he can prove that he was the rightful winner of the election or that the person that was declared a winner did not actually win or prove that the election was rigged or marred with malpractices is high. The threshold to prove that is not just high but also technical. 

Not just in election cases, but even in criminal or other civil cases, it is easier to defend yourself or to be the defendant than to be the plaintiff or the prosecutor. It is an old common law rule that he who alleges must prove, so if you claim that the election was rigged or marred with electoral malpractices, the onus is on you to prove to the court beyond every reasonable doubt that the election was truly rigged. If you are the defendant, you don’t need to prove that the election was not rigged or that you were duly elected, it is not your job to do that. 

This brings me to my next point; always try to be the defendant or respondent instead of the plaintiff or the applicant. Let them be the ones taking you to court instead of you taking other people to court. Financially speaking or resource-wise, it is more expensive to file a case or institute a fresh matter than to file a defense or response to a case. 

Local parlance will say “no be who first call police Dey win case” or “no be who first run reach police station Dey win case”. This pidgin popular quote tends to be true in many cases; because if you claim that you were wronged, you will have to prove that you are truly wronged for the court to believe you and while you are trying to prove that you were wronged to the satisfaction of the court, you will as well have to pay critical attention to statutory provisions and rules of court to guide you if not you will lose the case on technical ground before the substance of the case is even determined. 

Losing on technical grounds means that your case was not even decided on its merits or the substance of your case was not even looked into yet but because you did not pay attention to the rules guiding the filing of your case or the process to conduct the case, the case was either dismissed, struck out or that the other party won the case; this may be due to lack of service, ie you did not serve or properly serve the other party, statute barred ie the time within which you are to bring that case to court has passed, lack of jurisdiction of the court or that the case was not properly filed or instituted etc. 

For the sake of emphasis, always remember that “no be who first call police Dey win case”, so lower your expectations while you run to court in your quest for justice. Most importantly, bear in mind the judges are mere humans like you who can make mistakes or can be bribed. That is why you might have a good case, conduct the case in the expected manner and you will still lose the case. Hence, the court or the judges are not always right, not even the Supreme Court which is the highest court in the land. This is why the late Robert Jackson of the United States Supreme Court made this famous quote about the Supreme Court; “We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final”.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, says the “war is not over”.

Speaking at a press conference organised by the party on Thursday, Atiku said he has asked his lawyers to proceed to the Supreme Court.

Atiku had challenged the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in court, but the presidential election tribunal threw out his petition and upheld Tinubu’s election.

In his reaction at the PDP Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku said, ” I am here today to give my official reaction to the judgment delivered yesterday by the Presidential Election Petition Court on the 2023 presidential election.

“As you already know, I approached the court following the declaration by INEC that the APC and its candidate are the winners of the February 25, Presidential Election. My decision to go to court is anchored in my belief that the court is the sanctuary of justice. The journey of my political career, as you know, holds so much to the courage and fearless decisions of our judiciary.

“Indeed, I am no stranger to legal battles, and I can say that I have a fair idea of how the court system works. All through my career as a politician, I have been a fighter, and I must say that I have found the judiciary as a worthy pillar to rest on in the pursuit of justice. The last presidential election in our country and the way it was managed by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, leaves behind unenviable precedents, which I believe the courts have a duty to redress.

“Our gains in ensuring transparent elections through the deployment of technology was heavily compromised by INEC in the way it managed the last presidential election, and I am afraid that the judgement of the court as rendered by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal yesterday, failed to restore confidence in our dreams of free and fair elections devoid of human manipulations. Like I did say at the beginning of this legal battle when I instructed my lawyers to file my petition challenging the outcome of the presidential election, my ultimate goal in this pursuit is to ensure that democracy is further strengthened through the principles and processes of fair hearing.”

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Atiku maintained the stance that the election was manipulated in favour of President Bola Tinubu, but said his dissatisfaction with the tribunal verdict does not mean he has lost hope in the judiciary.

“Gentlemen of the press, I take great pains to tell you that the decision of the court of first instance on this matter utterly falls far short of that expectation. I am therefore here to tell you that, though the judgment of the court yesterday is respected, it is a judgment that I refuse to accept. I refuse to accept the judgment because I believe that it is bereft of substantial justice. However, the disappointment in the verdict of the court can never destroy my confidence in the judiciary.”

“Consequently, I have asked my lawyers to activate my constitutionally guaranteed rights of appeal to the higher court, which, in the instance, is the Supreme Court. It is my conviction that the electoral process in Nigeria should be devoid of untidy manipulations and that the outcome of every election should be a perfect reflection of the wishes of the electorate. I believe that such is the only way through which our democracy can have a manifest expression of its true meaning. Whether I prevail in this quest or not, the record of my effort in ensuring an order of credible elections in Nigeria shall remain for the future generations to evaluate.

“On this note, I urge all my supporters to remain steadfast. I urge them to take solace in an immortal lesson I learned from my leader and mentor, the late Shehu Yar’Adua, that losing a battle is less important than losing the war. We might have lost a battle yesterday, but the war is well ahead of us. And I believe that with our hopes in God, we shall win the war of restoring confidence in our electoral system. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the Press, I thank you for your attention,” he said.

A faction of the Labour Party led by Lamidi Apapa has accepted the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court on the case filed by the party’s presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi.

DAILY POST recalls that the tribunal on Wednesday ruled that the petition filed by Obi and his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and their parties had no merit and unanimously upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu.

The judgment was delivered by the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Haruna Tsammani, assisted by other members of the panel-Justices Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, Stephen Adah, Moses Ugo and Abba Mohammed.

Reacting, Apapa in a statement issued by the factional National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, said it was shameful that Obi and his legal team were unable to prove the allegations of irregularities in the February 25 election.

Apapa also accused Obi of allegedly siphoning money donated for his presidential campaign in 2022.

The statement said: “It is a shame that the legal team of Mr Peter Obi failed to advise him properly before going to the tribunal.

“Peter Obi has just gone on a wild goose chase. Imagine the candidate that failed to fund the party in order to engage the number of required polling agents, also the filing of the witnesses outside the stipulated time has shown that the legal team is a failure.

“Some of us have been saying that Peter Obi decided to go to the tribunal to justify all the money he collected during the campaign, all that money was corruptly siphoned”.

Apapa was at the tribunal at least twice to witness the court proceedings as the party chairman.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said Nigeria is enmeshed in plethora of challenges.

This is as he called for enduring solutions to the deepening security crisis that plagues the country.

Akpabio spoke at the graduation dinner and award night for participants of the National Defence College Course 31 on Wednesday in Abuja.

Akpabio stated that the college had spent its precious time in nurturing and equipping the participants with requisite strategic knowledge in the past 11 months of intellectual toil, pressure and anxiety.

According to him, the nation demands that the government deliver a dividend of democracy based on the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Tinubu and improve the quality of governance.

“So I look forward to receiving the thoughtful and workable solutions to the myriad of challenges bedevilling our nation. We also remember that the nation is also caught up in global challenges, which have far-reaching consequences,” the Senate president stated. “Meanwhile, the world has grown from the external defensive approach to security management, where the military and security agencies were forced to be the exclusive custodians of security globally.”

Akpabio, who was represented by Senate Committee on Navy chair Gbenga Daniel, stressed that “the war has several factors, both external and internal, easily impact on security of nations and it behooves on the security to develop resilience to all the dynamics that impact negatively on our national security.”

He added, “It is, however, heartwarming to note that for this Course 31, the theme was ‘Building Resilience for National Security Development’. It is my sincere hope that the solutions emanating from this college will become veritable tools that will enhance defence transformation and national security in years ahead.”

Akpabio explained that the defence corporation with friendly nations in Africa and the world had brought great benefits to Nigeria and other members and expressed appreciation to foreign participants for partnering with Nigeria and the National Defence College

The faction of the Labour Party led by Lamidi Apapa has acknowledged and accepted the decision of the presidential election tribunal, which upheld President Bola Tinubu’s win in the February 25 election. Mr. Apapa deemed the judgment acceptable and accused Peter Obi of embezzling $15 million and N12 billion.

On the other hand, the Julius Abure faction of the party chose not to address the accusation of misusing campaign funds. The faction made this known through a statement released by its spokesperson, Abayomi Arabambi.

“Some of us have been saying that Peter Obi decided to go to the tribunal to justify all the money he collected during the campaign. All that money was corruptly siphoned,” the Labour Party faction stated. “Thus, our previous position has now been confirmed that Peter Obi was just all out to defraud our party of donations made towards 2023 general election which was in a scary sum of $15 million and N12 billion that Peter Obi deliberate (sic) used for (sic) cure Abure poverty lineage and help other Julius Abure IPOB irresponsible ethnic irredeemable irredentist supporters to have a lifeline.”

The Labour Party faction claimed, “Peter Obi fraudulently converted all monies due to our agents across the country and they all refuse to represent the party at all pooling units.”

However, the Abure faction of the Labour Party’s spokesman, Obiora Ifoh, told Peoples Gazette Thursday, “We can’t be trading words with someone who has been expelled from the party and has no locus standi to claim that he’s the chairman of Labour Party.”

Mr Ifoh added, “The man (Apapa) is an imposter, not a member of the party. How could you even give him an audience? I can’t respond to what an imposter is saying. He’s an unknown quantity. He’s not known by law, INEC or the Labour Party.”

Tanko Yunusa, the spokesman for the Peter Obi-Yusuf Datti Presidential Campaign, told The Gazette that the “fact is that we don’t have a faction.”

“We can’t be responding to people who we’re not in the line of argument with. That’s why most of us don’t want to respond to this particular allegation that doesn’t have any locus standi,” Mr Yunusa explained.

He added, “As far as I’m concerned, that’s where we’ll remain on this particular matter. They’re just creating issues out of nothing and seeking attention. If they like, they should go and take us to court on that matter.”

Vice President Kashim Shettima has opined that it’s time for Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to quit active politics.

Addressing journalists after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal judgment, Shettima vowed to retire Atiku from politics.

Shettima said he would retire Atiku to Fombina, not Dubai or Morocco, where he would rear animals.

Within Nigeria had reported on Wednesday that the five-man panel, in a final judgement read by Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, upheld the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The tribunal dismissed the three petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party, LP, and the Allied Peoples Movement, APM.

The Tribunal resolved all the issues against the petitioners in favour of the respondents, President Tinubu, his Vice, Kashim Shettima and the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The PDP and the LP candidates, Abubakar Atiku and Peter Obi, respectively, have vowed to challenge the judgement at the Supreme Court.

However, Shettima resorted to turning the loss of Atiku at the tribunal as a source of derision.

“Atiku Abubakar is an elder statesman that I hold in very high esteem, and anybody who knows the social-cultural interaction between the Fulanis and the Kanuris in the North will know that I have the liberty to haul all insults at him, and he will bear,” Shettima said

“We are not going to retire Atiku Abubakar to Dubai or Morocco. I will retire him to Fombina, I will buy him goats and broilers and layers so that he can spend his days rearing goats and broilers.

“On a more serious note, he is an elder statesman. The nation needs him; experience is not something that you can buy in the marketplace. We will tap into his wealth of experience and exposure to catapult the nation to a higher level,”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has chastised ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo for his remarks about the Port Harcourt Petroleum Refinery in Rivers State.

Obasanjo recently told TheCable that he believes the country’s refineries will never function efficiently as long as they are owned by the government.

“Someone told me Tinubu said refineries would work by December. I told the person the refineries would not work. This is based on the information I received from Shell when I was president,” he had said.

But responding through Tope Ajayi, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Tinubu said Obasanjo is not an engineer, therefore he shouldn’t make such comments.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, with due respect to him, is not an engineer. He’s not the engineer working at the refineries. So, the engineers and the NNPC gave the president a report and they have said that it will work by December this year,” he had said while speaking on Daily Trust space themed: ‘Analysing the First 100 Days of President Tinubu’.

We still have like four months to go. I will say that with all due respect to the former president, who is an elder statesman and our father, that what he said is his personal opinion and view. I will rather rely on the judgment of the engineers who are working at the refinery. So, I think we should wait until December.

President Tinubu stated in August that the Port Harcourt petroleum refinery would begin production in December 2023, following the completion of the ongoing rehabilitation contract between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Italian firm, Maire Tecnimont SpA.

If completed as promised by Tinubu, the resuscitation of the refinery will reduce Nigeria’s reliance on oil imports and foreign refineries.

NNPCL stated that it has been working to renovate the refineries, which were completely shut down in 2021 and produced little or no fuel over the previous decade.