* Also seeks review of Kano, Katsina, Osun, Kaduna governorship election judgements
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Monday directed its lawyers to seek a review of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal verdict that declared President Muhammadu Buhari as duly elected president of Nigeria.
Apart from this, PDP is also seeking a review of already decided controversial state governorship elections in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna and Osun.
Supreme Court had in September 2019 dismissed an appeal by the main opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar to overturn the result of February 2019 presidential election in which President Muhammadu Buhari won re-election.
Addressing a press conference on the outcome of PDP National Working Committee (NWC) meeting Monday, titled, “Position of the PDP on The Desperation Of The APC To Subjugate, Intimidate for the Purpose of Annexing The Supreme Court Over Imo, Bayelsa and Zamfara Governorship Election Judgments”, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said “the NWC of the PDP, after comprehensive consultations, states that our party has no choice left, given the manner with which the APC has conducted itself, than to ask for a review of the judgment of the Presidential election petition tribunal, where the issue of certificate forgery and or presentation of false information in aid of qualifications was clearly established against the APC and her presidential candidate”.
He said that the same Supreme Court review applies to the judgment in the Katsina governorship election petition, where lawyers also established similar issue of certificate forgery.
According to Ologbondiyan, “The PDP equally has no choice than to ask the Supreme Court to review the Kano, Kaduna and Katsina election judgments, because of manifest violence and substantial non-compliance to our electoral law.”
The PDP spokesperson further said that the party was asking the Supreme Court to review its judgment on the Osun Governorship election in view of manifest, complete and total disregard to the electoral rules in the conduct of the elections.
He said, “Our party will not fold its hands and watch enemies of our hard-earned democracy, who contributed nothing to its birth, to continue to appropriate our collective sovereignty for their selfish political gains while destroying our institutions and holding our people to ransom”.
PDP said that the decision to seek for these reviews is because the All Progressives Congress (APC) is all out to destabilize the nation and destroy the hard-earned democracy.
PDP said that the time had come for all Nigerians to stand in unity to defend the nation and salvage it from political marauders and oppressive elements.
Ologbondiyan said, “Our nation is already aware of the desperation by the APC to annex the Supreme Court, subjugate and browbeat the justices and direct judicial determinations to suit their selfish ends.
“The public space is already awash with reports of how the APC has been threatening and piling pressure on the justices of the Supreme Court to force a reversal of valid judgments already delivered on the Bayelsa and Zamfara governorship elections, where the party (APC) suffered self-inflicted losses.
“Nigerians know that the APC has been going through a hemorrhage since the Supreme Court delivered valid judgments on Bayelsa and Zamfara and as a result, they are no longer interested in the logic of these judgments. They have since thrown caution to the wind to destabilize our nation and destroy our hard-earned democracy especially the judiciary. The APC federal government is leading all forms of battles against the rule of law and constitutionalism”..
Moreover, PDP said, “there is a consensus among majority of Nigerians and even the international community that there was obvious miscarriage of justice by the Supreme Court panel on the Imo state governorship election, for which the PDP accordingly reverted to the Supreme Court asking it to correct the manifest mistakes and errors in that judgment, which are already in the public domain”.
However, the PDP said that it finds it ludicrous, ridiculous and insulting to the sensibilities and respect of the Supreme Court Justices for the APC to hurriedly and malevolently head to the Supreme Court to attempt to arm twist the lord justices to effect a forceful reversal of the valid, flawless and faultless judgments on Bayelsa and Zamfara states governorship elections.
