Presidential election: Let’s move on

On Thursday last week, the Supreme Court panel, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, affirmed the election of Bola Tinubu as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The seven-person panel gave a unanimous judgment, no dissenting or minority decision. This decision was an affirmation of the earlier decision taken by the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC). That five-member Court also gave a unanimous decision, no dissenting or minority decision. In other words, 12 eminent judges have given their nod to the declaration by INEC that the February 25 presidential election was won by Tinubu. It does not mean that the election was absolutely flawless. It only means that the election was substantially free and fair.

In the decision of the Supreme Court there are three items that they touched on which are worth noting. One, is that INEC failed to transmit the results of the election to the IREV portal. Some politicians and analysts felt that that failure may have affected the authenticity of the votes.

However, the Supreme Court in its judgement, said that the non-transmission of the results to the IREV cannot invalidate the results because the IREV is not a collation centre. They said that what is important is the sanctity of the results from the polling units. They said that the appellants did not show that the non-transmission of the results to the IREV had affected the result of the election.
Second, they dealt with the issue of candidates scoring or failing to score 25 per cent in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Tinubu did not score 25 per cent of the votes in the FCT but did so in at least 2/3 of the states as required by the Constitution. But Tinubu’s political opponents felt that he was not validly elected since he failed to score 25 per cent in the FCT.

The Supreme Court ruled that it was not mandatory for any candidate to score 25 per cent of the FCT votes in order to emerge as President. The Supreme Court also said that it was not a constitutional requirement for the valid return of a candidate as a duly elected President. They also said that if the framers of the Constitution had wanted it that way they would have said so specifically.

Actually, giving the FCT such a special, pre-eminent and preferential treatment in the election of the President would have elevated the FCT over and above the states. Each State of the Federation has an elected Governor; the FCT does not. Each state of the Federation has three elected Senators; the FCT has only one. So, it is clear that the Constitution did not intend to make the FCT superior, or even equal, to the states.

Third, the Supreme Court affirmed the 180-day limit for the hearing of election and conclusion of election cases within that time limit. The court also said that the filing of additional evidence not pleaded at the court of first instance runs foul of the Electoral Act. That decision destroyed Atiku Abubakar’s attempt to use the Chicago State University Certificate of Tinubu as evidence at the Supreme Court level, when it was not tendered at the PEPC.

The Atiku camp felt that since the certificate issue was something that was vital for the success of their petition, the Supreme Court should set aside what they called “technicalities” and admit their documents as part of the evidence. But the Supreme Court thought that doing so would violate the Electoral Act.

Before the decision of the PEPC, there was considerable pressure on the judiciary. Some politicians and their supporters in the mainstream and social media were fond of saying that “all eyes are on the judiciary.” What they meant by that is that they expected justice from the judiciary, even if they did not get fair treatment from INEC.

After the PEPC released its verdict and the matter went to the Supreme Court, the slogan changed to “all eyes are on the Supreme Court.” Now that the Supreme Court has made a decision, I think all eyes are now on the three leading parties, APC, PDP and LP. The country is waiting to see how they will manage their success or failure in the coming months and years.

The Labour Party has made a significant impact in the election, an impact that is far beyond the expectation of many analysts. It has got one Governor in Abia State, a number of legislators in the National and State Houses of Assembly. Instead of claiming that it won the presidential election it should thank the voters for giving it such robust support in the various elections, and bringing it to national prominence and reckoning. It should settle down and manage its achievements, grow the party into a united group that can make a significant impact in 2027.

Today, the party has two factions. Leaders of the party should work on uniting the party, selling its philosophy and policies as well as offering from time-to-time alternative policy options. If the party acquires the gift of soberness and not begin to swagger and flaunt its little achievements as the very definition of ultimate success, then it can perform better in 2027.

The PDP remains the main opposition party after running the country for 16 years (1999-2015). At present, it is in tatters. It has failed to win three presidential elections in 2015, 2019 and 2023. It lost some of its members to a new party called NNPP. It also lost Peter Obi who was its vice-presidential candidate in 2019. Obi left the party and joined the Labour Party, which was half-dead and gave it oxygen. Now the Labour Party has become the third biggest party in Nigeria.

With the loss of three elections in a row, the PDP has lost steam, stamina and resilience. It still has a lingering problem with its five Governors who are called G-5. They helped the APC to win the election because of their insistence on the resignation of Dr Iyorchia Ayu as Chairman of the Party. Atiku and co could not resolve the fracas before the election and are not making any serious effort even now to resolve it. And with the loss of the 2023 presidential election, the party is in limbo, somewhere that is nowhere, it is in the middle of nowhere, a desert without water.

That is not a nice place to be. The first thing is to accept its election loss. The second thing is to rebuild the party and reconcile the reconcilable. The third thing is to play the active role of the lead opposition party because the country needs an effective opposition to the ruling party. Effective opposition is what can keep the government on its toes.

What about the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who was the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 election? Atiku has contested for the office of President six times, covering a period of 30 years. He has not acquired the crown despite his best efforts. But how many people have been the Vice President of Nigeria? Pretty few. So, all things considered he has done well for himself and for the country.

His election battles in the courts have improved election jurisprudence. His election contests have improved our democratic credentials. His contributions to national discourse have enriched the quality of solutions to our problems. Overall, he should hold his head high as a respected statesman.

In 2027 Atiku will be 81. He will be too old to contest for the presidency or any office at all. Between now and then, he should play the role of a leading opposition leader, throwing up a surfeit of ideas for the good governance of our democracy. Nigerians don’t expect him to stand and stare in the midst of the asphyxiating problems that threaten to consume Nigeria.

They expect him to put his wealth of knowledge at the disposal of the government of the day. That is the role of a statesman and patriot, both of which I think he is. He has to do this so that history will remember him kindly because when elections are over, partisanship is dead and bipartisanship comes alive.

With the Supreme Court decision giving Tinubu the nod, he is now free of distractions on the election front. He is now free to face the problems of the country unencumbered, unfettered and undistracted. And the problems are enormous: insecurity, dwindling economy, oil theft, illegal mining, dead refineries, poor infrastructure, high level of poverty, massive unemployment, low food production, corruption, electoral problems, fuel subsidy, health challenges, high debts, low productivity, poor education, dwindling values and japa-ism.

If we don’t want to be drowned by these problems we must focus attention firmly on them, pay undivided attention to them and see how we can overcome them. Right now, we are at the edge of the precipice. We should not sit on the fence. We should critically examine every policy adumbrated by the government. We should offer alternative policy options. We should offer feedback to government policies. We should set the agenda for the government and also key into the agenda set by the government. Countries are built with good ideas issued or adopted by visionary leaders. Let us focus attention on making Nigeria to achieve its manifest destiny in the not-too-distant future.