By Amuda Dan Sulaiman Fab
A Cheiftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi state, Barrister
Maimuna Eke Abubakar Audu has described the Wednesday judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which validated the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the poll held on February 25, 2023 as an indication that the nation’s democracy was moving in the right direction with a prospect to meet up with the global standard.
A 5-man panel of judges led by Justice Haruna Tsammani had ruled that various petitions from the former vice president and the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and former governor of Anambra state who was also the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) at the 2023 general election as well as that of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) lacked merit and thereby affirmed the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu, as validly elected and sworn-in as the President of Nigeria.
Reacting to the development in a statement issued on Wednesday and made available to journalists in Abuja, Barrister Abubakar Audu posited that the Judiciary arm of government had again proved that it was ready to play its role as a reliable custodian of justice and the rule of law that is always ready to safeguard democracy and also serve justice to all without fear or favour.
“As active contributor to the transparent processes that produced President Bola Tinubu as the candidate of our great and colourful electioneering which had issue-based campaigns as its nucleus as well as his electoral victory on February 25, 2023, I had no doubt in my mind that challenging Tinubu’s mandate in court were only chasing shadows.
“I am indeed glad that the court did justice to the matter in the face of blackmail, propaganda and threats of harassment.
“While I am using this opportunity to congratulate our dear leader, President Bola Tinubu, and the leadership of our great Party on this hard-won victory yet again, I urge Mr. President to forge ahead in his efforts aimed at uniting Nigeria and also reposition the country to reclaim its pride of place in the global community.
“The present administration cannot afford to lose focus on the mission to fix all the key sectors of the economy, power, security, health, agriculture, ICT among others and it is on this premise that I call on all patriots, including members of the opposition, to join hands with President Tinubu to move the nation forward,” she stressed.
