Politics
Atiku Cooked Up Allegations Against Me, Tinubu Tells Supreme Court
Atiku Cooked Up Allegations Against Me, Tinubu Tells Supreme Court
…Says petition was a mere blockbuster with thrilling suspense, hide and seek
President Bola Tinubu has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss an appeal the 2023 candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, filed to nullify his election.
Tinubu, in a 42-paged brief of argument filed through his team of 17 lawyers, comprising 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, urged the apex court to affirm what he termed as a “well-considered decision of the Court of Appeal,” which, while sitting as the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, on September 6, dismissed the joint petition Atiku and his party entered against him.
While insisting that the Independent National Electoral Commission validly returned him, INEC, as winner of the February 25 presidential poll, Tinubu told the apex court that by statistics, he garnered 25% of the total votes cast in 29 states of the federation.
He told the court that the former Vice President and the PDP only managed to secure 25% of the total votes in 21 states of the federation “as against the constitutional requirement of 24.7 states, which is the mathematical results of two-thirds of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT (making 37).
Tinubu maintained that having secured the highest number of valid votes cast and having fulfilled all constitutional requirements in that regard, INEC had no option than to declare him as the winner of the presidential contest.
He told the court that Atiku and the PDP, dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, on March 21, approached the PEPC “on trumped-up allegations of non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, corrupt practices, non-scoring of majority of lawful votes cast at the election and non-qualification of the Respondent.”
According to President Tinubu, “the hyperbolic character of the foregoing allegations was exposed by the petition itself, which had no facts in support thereof.
“Starting from the allegation of non-qualification of the Respondent, all that the Appellants submitted to the lower court through their petition was that the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) was at the time of the election not qualified to contest the election, not having the constitutional threshold.”
He told the Supreme Court that Atiku and his party failed to explain what they meant by “constitutional threshold” till all the Respondents in the matter were done with filing of their replies to the petition.
‘Cooked-up allegations’
“It was at this point they rolled out their drums of cooked-up allegations of discrepancies in the 2nd Respondent’s academic qualifications, dual nationality and sundry bemusing allegations from the back door.
“While they also claimed to have won the highest number of votes cast at the election, as against INEC’s declaration, throughout their petition, they did not suggest an alternative score which they considered correct, whether for themselves or the Respondent.
“Though they had alleged that the election was riddled with non-compliance and corrupt practices, the paragraphs of their petition putting up these allegations were nothing short of vague, imprecise, generic and nebulous.
“For these allegations which ought to have been specifically demonstrated through facts and figures, such as polling units and numbers, the Appellants, through their petition, chose to regale the lower court and the Respondents with breath-taking suspense, by stating that the said facts will be disclosed in their statistician’s report which was not part of the petition filed.
“It is commonsensical that the Respondents will only be able to respond to the facts in the petition and not on the crucial, albeit anticipated statistician’s report, since even the devil himself knows not the heart of man.”
President Tinubu told the apex court that out of 27 witnesses that Atiku called, 13 did not have their witness statements front-loaded with the petition.
“With these, it was obvious that the Appellants did not intend to prosecute a petition but rather, to venture into some form of blockbuster, laced with thrilling suspense, stunning surprises, and ecstatic hide-and-seek recreational activities; and these necessitated series of objections from the Respondents,
challenging the competence of the petition, as well as the itemized nebulous paragraphs of same, the statement on oath of these subpoenaed witnesses, which were not front-loaded with the petition and tons of documents sought to be tendered, which were either irrelevant or unconforming to the mandatory rules of admissibility.”
President Tinubu told the apex court that whereas Atiku raised issue of non-transmission of results, all the witnesses he brought before the PEPC, “agreed that the election went very smoothly, where INEC complied with all the prescribed procedures.”
‘Dismiss Atiku’s appeal’
He, therefore, urged the Supreme Court to dismiss Atiku’s appeal as lacking in merit and to affirm the election and return of the Respondent by INEC as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, having scored highest number of lawful votes cast and fulfilling all constitutional requirements.”
Tinubu contended that the Appellants did not demonstrate any reason the Supreme Court should disturb any of the findings of the lower court, “which with all modesty, are rooted in law and perfect demonstration of scholarship.”
More so, President Tinubu noted that even though Atiku challenged his qualifications, however, in his alternative prayer in court, he requested to have a run-off election with him.
“The logical conclusion from this approbative and reprobative posture of the Appellants is that deep down in their hearts, they are convinced that the 2nd Respondent won the election, but have decided to embark on this voyage of abuse of court process,” Tinubu added.
Consequently, he prayed the Supreme Court to dismiss Atiku’s appeal marked: SC/CV/935/2023.
Cited as 1st to 3rd Respondents in the appeal, were; INEC, Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, respectively.
Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for the Supreme Court to commence hearing on the presidential dispute.
Breaking: Speaker Obasa Debunks Allegation Of Spending N17b On Assembly Gate
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Thursday described the allegation that the House spent N17 billion on the fixing of a gate as spurious and funny.
A self-proclaimed group, Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition, had accused the Assembly of spending the amount to construct a gate. The group also sought investigation of the claim.
Speaking at plenary, Dr. Obasa said the allegation stemmed from the fear of some people over 2027 which is still more than two years away.
Obasa further debunked the claim that the House spent N200 million on its recently organised 22nd thanksgiving service for staff.
“It is so funny. How much is the allocation of the Assembly in the whole year that we will decide to spend N17 billion on a gate? They even claimed that we expended 200 million on thanksgiving that did not hold.
“We are aware that at a period like this when we are approaching elections in 2027, we should expect such things. I think some people are scared and I don’t know why.
“This House did not and has not embarked on any such project. We are not that reckless. We had our thanksgiving last Friday and dignitaries from various parts of the State attended it,” the Speaker said.
Addressing further claims by the group about the alleged relationship between him and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, the Speaker denied attending the latter’s screening and confirmation by the National Assembly.
“They said that I was at the National Assembly when they were confirming the EFCC chairman. I want to believe that there are CCTV cameras at the National Assembly to identify those who attended the event. The press must have written about it too. So the group should do more to confirm if I was there.
“This is just to deny the allegations in the interest of the public and not the writers because the writers are not those we should be joining words with,” the Speaker said.
Earlier, the House, through its spokesperson, Hon. Stephen Ogundipe, had addressed the allegations noting that the Assembly bases its activities on integrity, transparency and accountability.
“It is ludicrous the claim about constituency intervention funds and constituency project funds and their handling by Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko as claimed by the group.
“One would have expected a self-acclaimed anti-corruption crusading group to do its groundwork before jumping across the fence with conviction that it hit a jackpot to malign an institution of repute in the name of politics.
“Simply put, the Lagos State House of Assembly does not have any such funds. The Assembly does not embark on constituency projects. Instead, once every year, the House holds stakeholders’ meetings simultaneously across the state where constituents have the opportunity to tell the lawmakers their expectations and make requests for the betterment of the state.
“These requests and expectations are compiled and sent to the executive arm of government for consideration as inputs in subsequent budgets. If this is what the group takes as constituency intervention or project funds, we are sure this explanation has given the required education, moreover, it is common knowledge that it is the responsibility of the Executive arm to execute such projects,” the earlier statement by Ogundipe read.
Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
- Eritrea: President Isaias Holds Talks with Special Chinese Delegation December 21, 2024
- United States of America (US) Government and Ethiopia: Sustaining Gains and Accelerating Progress Toward Ending the HIV Epidemic December 21, 2024
- United Arab Emirates (UAE) Condemns Car Ramming Attack at Market in Germany December 21, 2024
- His Excellency Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahyan Meets President of South Africa December 21, 2024
- Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio Presides Over Swearing-In of Chief Justice, Reaffirms Judiciary as Pillar of Democracy December 21, 2024
- Security and economic woes plague West Africa, as key elections loom December 21, 2024
- Madagascar: African Development Fund approves a grant of over $9 million to strengthen protection and sustainable use systems for natural capital and ecosystems December 20, 2024
- Chad: New EUR 28 million African Development Bank-funded solar project to boost Chad's energy access December 20, 2024
- Many Africans experience difficulty and disrespect in accessing public services, new Afrobarometer Pan-Africa Profile shows December 20, 2024
- CORRECTION: 2025 Basketball Africa League Combine to be Held January 10-12 in Rabat, Morocco December 20, 2024
- Eritrea: President Isaias Holds Talks with Special Chinese Delegation December 21, 2024
- United States of America (US) Government and Ethiopia: Sustaining Gains and Accelerating Progress Toward Ending the HIV Epidemic December 21, 2024
- United Arab Emirates (UAE) Condemns Car Ramming Attack at Market in Germany December 21, 2024
- His Excellency Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahyan Meets President of South Africa December 21, 2024
- Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio Presides Over Swearing-In of Chief Justice, Reaffirms Judiciary as Pillar of Democracy December 21, 2024
- Security and economic woes plague West Africa, as key elections loom December 21, 2024
- Madagascar: African Development Fund approves a grant of over $9 million to strengthen protection and sustainable use systems for natural capital and ecosystems December 20, 2024
-
Entertainment6 months agoAkanke Amororo: The New Yoruba Movie Everyone Is Talking About + Why People Are Rushing To YouTube To See It
-
Politics6 months agoGov Fubara And One Year of His Signature in Rivers By Nath Odili
-
Business7 months agoFIRSTBANK WINS 2024 BEST SME BANK IN NIGERIA AND BEST SME BANK IN AFRICA BY ASIAN BANKER AWARDS
-
Business5 months agoPROFILE: JESSICA AMARACHI OKU BY CHINEDU NSOFOR