Following the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to uphold President Bola Tinubu’s electoral victory, the Labour Party (LP) has alleged that the legislative and judicial arms of government had been hijacked by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
At a press conference hours after the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his LP counterpart, Peter Obi, LP’s Chairman, Julius Abure, said the party was disappointed but remains optimistic.
A seven-judge panel led by Justice John Iyang Okoro ruled the opposition appeals over claims of fraud, electoral law violations, and Tinubu’s ineligibility to run for president lack merit.
According to Abure, what transpired between the day of the 2023 presidential election and now demonstrated that the country was on the verge of tyranny.
“We are indeed very shocked and surprised that even the apex court will toe the line of an earlier judgement in spite of all the flaws associated with the judgement delivered by the Presidential Election Appeal Tribunal.
“Having conclusively exercised our fundamental rights as gifted to us by the laws of the land, we have no other choice but to move on. We may be disappointed and dismayed by the outcome of the exercise but we have chosen to trudge on and to remain optimistic of what the future holds for the nation.
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“We weep for our institutions that cannot rise to the occasion and courageously defend democracy and the voices of our people.
“However, there are great lessons to be learnt. What transpired in Nigeria since the February 25 presidential election is a clear testament that our institutions are not working and that we may be sliding towards dictatorship. It is very clear that the executive has hijacked both the judiciary and the legislature. This is so unfortunate for our democracy and it is even more for the people of Nigeria.
“All what our forbearers taught us has been destroyed within a short space of time because of the unbridled ambition of a few. The founding fathers fought with their lives to achieve independence for the country.
“People lost their lives for the struggle to keep our democracy and all these years people have been struggling to achieve electoral and constitutional reforms. Regrettably, all of these efforts and struggles have been destroyed today,” Abure said.
