The long awaited judgement day is here today.
DAILY POST reports that hours after the Presidency issued a statement, on Sunday, September 3, to disclose that President Bola Tinubu will be travelling to New Delhi, India, for the G-20 Summit, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT, finally announced that it had set a date to deliver judgement in petitions filed against the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
Interestly, the PEPT said the judgement delivery would be televised live.
Tinubu will not be in the country when the tribunal decides whether to affirm his victory, or nullify it, as requested by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, and the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, who filed separate petitions to challenge the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after the February 25 presidential poll.
It could be a coincidence that the tribunal fixed the judgement on a date the President would be away from the country but Nigerians are waiting with bated breath for the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led panel to deliver its verdict.
The 2023 presidential election was one of the most keenly contested, and fiercely disputed since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999 and the anxieties that surrounded the polls has heightened as the tribunal gets set to announce its decision today, Wednesday.
On Monday, September 4, the same day the tribunal announced the date for its judgement, the Department of State Services, DSS, disclosed in a statement that it had uncovered plans by some elements in parts of the country to stage violent protests in order to discredit the Federal Government.
Although the DSS did not link the alleged plot to the tribunal’s judgement, the language of the statement was similar to an earlier one released by the agency to alert Nigerians of plans by some politicians to form an interim government after the 2023 general elections, just before former President Muhammadu Buhari handed over to Tinubu on May 29.
“Intelligence reports have indicated that the plotters include certain politicians who are desperately mobilising unsuspecting student leaders, ethnic-based associations, youth, and disgruntled groups for the planned action.
“The Service has identified the ring leaders of the plot as well as sustained monitoring around them in order to deter them from plunging the country into anarchy,” the DSS said in the statement released on Monday, September 4.
Meanwhile, just before he left for India, Tinubu chaired a meeting of the National Security Council at the State House, Abuja.
Details of what transpired at the meeting were not made public. But many Nigerians are insinuating that the meeting might not be unconnected with tensions surrounding the tribunal’s judgement.
President not worried about tribunal judgement – Presidency
However, with tensions rising as the clock counts down to the judgement, Tinubu’s spokesperson declared that the President is not worried about the decision of the tribunal.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, made the claim when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday evening.
“He’s not worried simply because he knows he won the election,” Ngelale said.
But, in a veiled reference to the controversial ‘All Eyes on the Judiciary’ billboards erected by some Nigerians ahead of the tribunal’s verdict, the presidential spokesperson added, “The President sees no need to threaten judicial officers. He sees no need to raise speculations against the integrity of judicial officers; he believes in the sanctity and integrity of the Nigerian judicial system, he believes the great men and women on the panel will make their decisions based only on the facts before them.”
According to Ngelale, “He (Tinubu) will continue to ensure that no matter what the outcome of the judgement is, he does his part and ensure that our institutions continue to be respected, not just by him, but all actors.”
However, the Labour Party immediately countered the Presidency’s assertion that Tinubu won the election.
When contacted by DAILY POST on Tuesday, September 5, spokesperson of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh expressed confidence that the judgement will go the way of the party and its presidential candidate, Obi.
