Atiku, Obi can still be Nigeria’s president, Ganduje says after Supreme Court affirmed Tinubu’s election win
Presidential candidates of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively can still become presidents in the country.
This was according to the national chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who taunted both to wait till President Bola Tinubu may have done two terms at the helm of affairs.
“There is still room for both Obi and Atiku to actualize their presidential aspiration after the second term tenure of President Tinubu in 2031,” Ganduje was quoted to have said in a press circulated by his chief press secretary, Edwin Olofu, on Friday.
Ganduje was reacting to Thursday’s Supreme Court judgement which affirmed Tinubu as the validly elected president of Nigeria.
He applauded the Supreme Court decision which he said “has laid to rest all claims by the opposition political parties that the votes at the presidential poll were manipulated in favour of President Tinubu.”
Olofu said Ganduje remarked that the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict would now pave the way for President Tinubu to concentrate on implementing the Renewed Hope mandate of the APC for the benefit of Nigerians.
He added that Ganduje called on the presidential candidates of the opposition parties to bury their hatchets and join hands with President Tinubu to reposition the country towards sustainable growth and development.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us, it is our responsibility as patriots to pool our resources together to move the country forward. I congratulate both Atiku and Obi for their dogged fight in extending the frontiers of our democracy and law.
“This is democracy. Tinubu’s victory is another victory for democratic rule in the country. There is still room for both Obi and Atiku to actualize their presidential aspiration after the second term tenure of President Tinubu in 2031,” Ganduje was further quoted to have said. .
He called on Nigerians, irrespective of political leanings, to rally round the Tinubu to ensure that he delivers more dividends of democracy and move the country on the path of sustainable progress.
Nigerian Supreme Court affirms President Tinubu’s election win
The Supreme Court in Nigeria on Thursday upheld President Bola Tinubu’s election win in the country’s 2023 presidential election.
The judgement brought to an end a legal challenge instituted by his two main rivals, who argued that his victory was marred by irregularities.
The ruling will give 71-year-old Tinubu a clear mandate to govern Africa’s most populous nation, which is grappling with double-digit inflation, foreign currency shortages, a weakening naira, widespread insecurity and crude oil theft.
The biggest opposition, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), said it was “alarmed and disappointed” by the ruling, but Tinubu welcomed the judgment.
“We are all members of one household, and this moment demands that we continue to work and build our country together,” Tinubu said in a statement.
Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost uninterrupted military rule, but accusations of ballot-rigging and fraud have followed its electoral cycles.
The judgment by seven Supreme Court judges, which is final, follows a pattern seen in previous presidential elections that have been challenged in court. None of the attempts to overturn results through the courts has been successful.
“This judgment by the Supreme Court has evidently shaken the confidence of Nigerians in the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court as the last hope of the common man,” the PDP said.
Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party came second and third respectively in the February vote, but rejected the result and called for Tinubu’s win to be annulled.
The two opposition leaders had appealed a Sept. 6 tribunal judgment that endorsed Tinubu’s victory.
In the appeal, they argued that the electoral commission failed to electronically transmit results from polling stations to an online portal, which undermined their authenticity.
They also said Tinubu had won less than 25% of the vote in the federal capital Abuja so he did not meet the legal threshold to become president.
The judges dismissed all their arguments.
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