Though the general elections were held in Nigeria on February 25, 2023 to elect a new President, Vice President and members of the National Assembly, results of the presidential election were not announced until March 1, 2023. From that day those not satisfied with its conduct and outcome have up to a maximum of 180
Though the general elections were held in Nigeria on February 25, 2023 to elect a new President, Vice President and members of the National Assembly, results of the presidential election were not announced until March 1, 2023.
From that day those not satisfied with its conduct and outcome have up to a maximum of 180 to start and conclude all the processes, including the delivery of judgment by the Presidential Election Petition Court. The days were running as if they were inadequate for petitioners to prove their cases. But, in the eyes of the voters, the process was like taking for ever.
The elected President was sworn in on May 29, about two months after the elections held. The day of the swearing in was both a happy and sad day. Happy for the winner and his supporters but sad for the losers who had a hope of being able to upturn the outcome in Court.
Outcome of presidential elections’ results in Nigeria has never been upturned; since 1960 when Nigeria became an independent nation. But several factors projected the 2023 election as unusual. The social media made all the difference by creating all the hypes of disqualification of a candidate and projecting a particular candidate a winner based on their perceptions.
So, waiting for the judgement was like waiting for Armageddon. There were threats, real and unreal; there were speculations and innuendos about outcomes and likely reactions to the outcomes. The judges came under scrutiny and watch. It was like the judiciary was under siege.
The first victim and whipping boy after the results were announced was Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission also served as the Chief Returning Officer of the presidential election. It was his lot to declare a winner. Immediately he concluded his assignment, he came under attacks of not being fair and of manipulating to favour the declared winner. The failure of INEC to comply with its own regulations that it would upload the results of the election from the polling units on its results viewing portal -IREV was a major flaw by the election management body. This led to questions being asked and heightened suspicions. It took a toll on the credibility of the election. INEC blamed this on technology glitch which it never gave details of even while in Court.
The Chills
The outcome of the 2023 election shocked the opposition parties and threw them into a chill. Of course, opposition has itself to blame. Imagine if the PDP, the Labour Party and the New Nigerian Peoples Party had pooled their strength (votes) together, theoretically, they would have scored about 14,582,740 votes which would have knocked Tinubu and APC off their feet. But, blighted by their individual ambitions, they failed to align and at the end of the day failed.
It could be argued that it wasn’t in doubt that the APC candidate, now President Bola Tinubu did a lot better that its two major rivals in terms of votes garnered and spread recorded in the election. He scored more votes and neither Abubakar Atiku of the PDP nor Peter Obi of the Labour Party got up to 25 percent votes in up to 24 states which is two-thirds of 36 states – a constitutional requirement. It is, therefore, on its face value would appear that it was a well-deserved victory for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu despite the flaws.
Hence, the cases in Court on which judgements would be delivered tomorrow leaned too heavily on qualifications of Tinubu and Shettima, his vice president. They have argued that the duo should be disqualified on the basis of non-qualification and also argued failure to meet requirements of the law to be declared winner especially because of the requirement of 25 percent in FCT and whether FCT is a state or not. Now the court has ruled:
The Thrills
Opposition members went into some thrills while the cases lasted in Court. As opposition lawyers (Plaintiffs) argued their cases, their supporters were being thrilled and had fun on the social media, emphasizing the highpoints of their lawyers’ arguments in Court. They celebrated rulings that were in their favour and overhyped optics of presentation of ballot boxes and witnesses’ submission on the use of technology, trying to establish there was no glitch.
The presence of Peter Obi and Abubakar in Court a couple of times came with fanfare and ecstasy. Even Lawyers struggled to have a handshake with these personalities. It was reported on one of such days that two telephone handsets belonging to Mr. Peter Obi were stolen. The leadership tussle in the Labour Party also created its own drama and fun while the case progressed.
The Anxieties
Then came the anxieties, after all the submissions have been made in Court for and against. The rumour mills then went agog with different write-ups. The social media especially x formerly Twitter was the spot for endless abuse and insults, lies, trolling, bullying, character assassination, blackmail of opponents and members of the judiciary.
Rather than concentrate on the facts of the case in Court supporters were living on fiction and imagining stuffs. Today, the news would be the disqualification of Tinubu, tomorrow it is an imaginary rerun. It was a season of anxiety and tension with supporters threatening Armageddon. Different dates were announced as judgement day. But they were all misses.
All Eyes on the Judiciary
From the vilification of INEC and its boss, all of a sudden, billboards surfaced in Abuja with bold inscriptions of All Eyes on the Judiciary. The judiciary was placed on trial in the minds of supporters. Now that the trial has been concluded, it would be interesting to know the supporters’ verdict. This is, however, predictable. For those who have been favoured by the judgement, the judiciary has done well. For those not so lucky, the judiciary has failed. The admonition is: “If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather learn to see your own faults.”. This is a message to the opposition parties.
