An Emphatic Judicial Victory Rejuvenates The Renewed Era Mandate.



By every means, the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal upholding the electoral victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the February 25, 2023 presidential election was a watershed in the history of electoral adjudication in Nigeria. The emphatic nature of the delivery, the desperate pressures and blackmail the judges survived to deliver the judgment, the gargantuan amount of extraneous factors brought into the petitions  by the petitioners to sway justice to their sides; all joined to make the judgment a sort of landmark. The decision of the court to do a free live broadcast of the judgment and the fact that the five-member panel sat for 14 straight hours to deliver that 794 pages ruling stands the judgment as an epic mark of history that will endure for ages to come. 


Perhaps, in the future we may get to have another judgment that would weather more pressures and blackmails as this one and which would be delivered in more contemporaneous circumstances with more cadent features but this one still holds the baton till such a time.


The cases being ruled on were election petitions by Allied People's Mandate, Labour Party and Peter Obi, People's Democratic Party and Atiku Abubakar; all challenging the victory  of President Tinubu in that epic election. Through various consolidated prayers, these parties who were vanquished by Tinubu and his All Progressives Congress in the presidential election, sought the upturning of the result of the election to their respective favours.


The various interests had argued and canvassed their respective petitions before the tribunal. They had  proffered their respective evidences, examined and cross-examined their opponents and had filed in and adopted their respective addresses in a period spanning  five months, at the end of which the court reserved judgment, which was fixed on Wednesday, September 6th, 2023. 


When the court announced, on the eve of the judgment, that it was open for life telecast of the ruling, there was a general feeling of approval that cuts across all the interests and parties to the cases and overflowed to the general public who were eager to watch and listen to the delivery of the judgment to enhance the credibility of the entire adjudication process. It was therefore not surprising that millions of Nigerians glued to their televisions and radio stations and internet streaming of the judgment which took a whooping twelve hours!


The judgment has been delivered. The whole five cases were resolved in favour of President Tinubu and his APC. All the judgments were resolved in unanimous agreement by the five judges that constitute the panel. In other words, the entire members of the panel agreed that President Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election fair and square, that nothing; either in the law or anywhere, barred him from contesting the presidency, that his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima was validly nominated, that there are no criminal impediments standing between President Tinubu and contesting the presidency; all these were contrary to the claims and prayers of the losing candidates and parties before the tribunal. So all the judges agreed on these decision. None dissented!


As expected, the losing opposition have disagreed with the judgment and have stated their readiness to appeal at the  Supreme Court, which is within their legal rights.


But to President Tinubu, his government, supporters, party and many other Nigerians, the judgment is a re-assuring, refreshing and rejuvenating elixir to the mandate he got on February 25. Nothing could be more assuring. It was a major validation of the pan-country mandate Tinubu was given across the length and breadth of Nigeria but which his opponents have tried to impeach, using very desperate means and tactics. The tribunal's verdict, the emphatic and authoritative manner it was delivered, the flurry of authorities the judges used to back the judgment, the open access Nigerians had of the delivery; all have combined to swell the credibility of the election while dealing a huge, devastating blow on his opponents who were making a roadshow of their expectations from the judiciary before the judgment.


The detailed manner of the judgment, which not only exposed the emptiness and vacuousness of the petitioners' cases had gone a great deal to shred the boisterous boasts and bombastic expectations of the opposition. The way and manner the judges highlighted the defects of the oppositions' case where they made a chain of claims and demands with very sparse or no evidences and which  were being reeled live to Nigerians, put a huge lie to the claims of the opposition over the February 25 election. The tribunal laid every issue bare in such a way that it greatly shredded the opposition while bolstering the credibility and acceptance of President Tinubu's government.


Following from the ruling, different people and interests have either hailed the epic judgment or called the opposition to drop their resolve to appeal the judgment. So thrilled by the impeccable judgement, the erudite legal luminary, Chief Robert Clark (SAN) rated the judgments as 'the two best judgments' he has ever heard. A ranking PDP member, Senator Ben Murray Bruce advised the opponents to drop their decision to go to Supreme Court as it was obvious that President Tinubu won his election fair and square, so nothing would come out from the Supreme Court adventure. The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), a body beholden to the interests of the opposition, advised that instead of going to the Supreme Court, the oppositions' legal teams should apologize to their clients for a shoddy legal representation. 


With this picture above, it is certain that the opposition, which had grown audaciously obdurate and had embarked on several antics to discredit the election of President Tinubu, is in huge disarray. Conversely, President Tinubu who was attending a G-20 Summit in far-away India when the judgment was delivered, is massively boosted and charged by this judgment. His mandate received a monumental boost too. These are enough to make one practically float on air! With this judgment, the Renewed Hope mantra has received a powerful renewal that should fire it to reach the heights in prosecuting a prosperous Nigeria that would serve all of us. The judgment was an affirmation of the cross-country mandate Nigerians gave Tinubu on February 25. Inherent in that mandate is the desire for him to lead a turn-around for a country that habours enormous human and natural resources so that Nigerians would tap and benefit from these potentials. The unanimous legal stamp on Tinubu's mandate by PEPT is an immutable stamp of refreshed credibility that rubbishes all dedicated and desperate efforts of the opposition to tar that mandate. The judgment speaks of the unanimous approval of Nigerians to the electoral choice we made on election day. The unassailable nature of the judgment makes any effort to overturn it a nullity that wouldn't fly. 


So, President Tinubu received enormous boost from the election tribunal ruling. This renewed approval should add more pep to his demonstrable resolve to deal with and fix Nigeria's numerous issues to the benefit of every Nigerian. The tribunal ruling is a new insignia of approval that should fire the new regime to double its zeal to procure the best for Nigerians in every sector. It should add fuel to the fire of nationalism in the young regime to expedite the process of recovering Nigeria for the good of all. 


I don't see any possibility of the Supreme Court departing from the impeccable ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. I don't see the Supreme Court impeaching and vitiating the unassailable judgment of the election tribunal so I expect President Tinubu and the Renewed Hope regime to continue the bold and courageous governance they have been carrying out since inception, unencumbered by any worries about the tenancy of the regime. With the quality of the ruling of PEPT, I am sure the tenancy of the Renewed Hope government for the next four years, is cast on stone.



Peter Claver Oparah


Ikeja, Lagos.