The presidential election of 2019 has come and perhaps gone. To some, it
might have been confined to the dustbin of history but definitely not
the throwbacks on the conscience of a nation which has been wounded by
its blatant disregard for common sense; a nation that needs healing.
The
presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former
Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has approached the courts to
seek redress. His prayers? That he won the February 23 presidential
elections without let and he was brazenly rigged out by the All
Progressives Congress and its candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari
using apparatuses of state security and the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), the supposed umpire of the polls. He also
prayed the court to look into the merits of his claim that Buhari was
ineligible to contest for the post of president having lied under oath
in the form CF001 that he filled and submitted to INEC to enable him
contest for that office.
Since March, 2019 Nigerians have been
treated to a drama of the absurd in all the legal tussles, their quest
for justice have been treated with the greatest disdain as if they do
not matter.
The legal rigmarole have taken turns and twists,
first from the refusal of INEC, a supposed electoral umpire which
obviously did not seem to be living up to its name as in being
independent refusing the Atiku legal team access to electoral materials
with which to prosecute its case, and this was done in blatant disregard
of a subsisting Court order to make them available.
Then the
legal tricks of deliberate delays: refusal of the President of Court of
Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to recuse herself especially in a
matter where her culpability and interest is very much manifest. All
these court theatrics no doubt robbed the Atiku and PDP legal team of
ample time and opportunity to parade all or most of its listed four
hundred witnesses lined up in support of its claims.
To start
with, INEC shot itself in the legs by denying it ever had a Server into
which all election results were uploaded. It is a grave assault on the
minds of many Nigerians. In this age and time, where does INEC capture
data of over 80 million registered voters spread across one hundred and
ninety nine, nine hundred and seventy three polling stations in the
country? Even against its own laws and guidelines INEC had defaulted
because it promised Nigerians a fool proof election conduct, collation
and transmission of results. There is enough evidence to suggest that
INEC lied about this all important aspect of the voting process. If INEC
gets away with a discharge from this open lies, then all and most
especially the Chairman and its principal officers should not get away
with fraud. They should answer questions on the money approved for the
procurement of this electronic facility. If INEC truly does not have a
Server, the money allocated for it must have been stolen by its
operatives.
But yet more drama was to await Nigerians, as they
woke up to a rude shock last week after Atiku and the PDP closed their
case within its ten days allotted time, presenting 65 witnesses of its
400 (because of time constraints). First it was INEC that declared
matter of fact that it does not have witnesses to call, and after a
highly disappointing parade of seven lacklustre witnesses that did more
damages to the Buhari/APC defends line, they also opted for an abrupt
close of case. Curiously, the APC closed its own case before it even
started without calling a witness.
Typically the signal this
sends to most Nigerians that just like the February 23 elections, the
APC is out to draw out another card in its pack of aces, to browbeat the
Judiciary. Another short corner legion?
What suffers in the
eventuality of a miscarriage of Justice as the sudden change of tactics
suggest? Democracy is about to be taken to the slaughter house and where
the will of the people is murdered in such brazen manner their
existence was abridged. A stolen mandate is directly proportional to a
stolen future and a perverted destiny.
The nation’s Justices will write their names in 24 karat of gold if they manifest the moral force as embodied by Lady Justice.
By
evoking its instrumentality of impartiality, the Judiciary would have
gained back its integrity and fulfilment of the sacred duty bestowed on
it by providence.
Long after this season, it would be said of
Nigeria’s judiciary that it found itself at a crossroads, but showed
uncommon courage in restoring hope to a country in need of salvation,
and ultimately wrote itself in the golden book as champions of our
democracy.
Olumide Ojini, a Microbiologist wrote from Asaba
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