BREAKING: Tribunal Affirms President Tinubu’s Election Victory;Tinubu Hails Judgment + Road To Victory in 2023 Presidential Poll

By Babatunde Solanke

The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, on Wednesday, affirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.

Tinubu hailed the verdict of the tribunal just as he also assured Nigerians of his renewed and energized focus on delivering his vision of a unified, peaceful and prosperous nation.

The five-man panel of the Tribunal was led by Justice Haruna Tsammani.

This development followed petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; the Labour Party and its candidate, Peter Obi, challenging the victory of Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission on March 1.

Tinubu scored a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku and Obi, who polled 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes, respectively.

Reacting to his victory at the tribunal verdict, Tinubu pledge that he is prepared to serve all Nigerians irrespective of their tribe, creed or religion.

According to a statement issued in New Delhi, India, by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), the president welcomed the judgment of the tribunal with “an intense sense of solemn responsibility and preparedness to serve all Nigerians, irrespective of all diverse political persuasions, faiths, and tribal identities.”

It said the president recognised “the diligence, undaunted thoroughness, and professionalism of the five-member bench, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani in interpreting the law.”

The statement added that the President affirmed that his “commitment to the rule of law, and the unhindered discharge of duties by the tribunal, as witnessed in the panel’s exclusive respect for the merits of the petitions brought forward, further reflects the continuing maturation of Nigeria’s legal system, and the advancement of Africa’s largest democracy at a time when our democratic system of government is under test in other parts of the continent.”

Tinubu expressed his belief that the presidential candidates and political parties that have lawfully exercised their rights by participating in the 2023 general elections and the judicial process, which followed, have affirmed Nigeria’s democratic credentials.

The President urged his “valiant challengers to inspire their supporters in the trust that the spirit of patriotism will now and forever be elevated above partisan considerations, manifesting into support for our Government to improve the livelihood of all Nigerians.”

It said President Tinubu thanked Nigerians for the mandate given to him to serve the country while promising “to meet and exceed their expectations, by the grace of God Almighty, and through very diligent hard work with the team that has been put in place for that sole purpose.”

Obi and his party, LP the APM, Alhaji A Atiku and the PDP) are, in their various petitions seeking the nullification of Tinubu’s election on the grounds of substantial non-compliance with the Constitution, the Electoral Act and INEC’s guidelines for the conduct of the presidential election, as well as double nomination of Vice President Kashim Shettima.

They also claimed that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the said election and that his declaration and return as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was illegal, null and void.

Five political parties had earlier filed petitions against Tinubu’s election, but, the Action Alliance (AA) and the Action Peoples Party (APP) withdrew their petitions, leaving the petitions by Obi, Atiku, their political parties and the APM.

Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) won the 2023 election conducted by the independent National electoral Commission (INEC).

The Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu had on March, 1 2023, declared Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election, having scored the highest votes cast in the election.

According bto INEC, Tinubu  polled 8, 794, 726 to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 6,984, 520 and Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) who garnered, 6,101,533 while Rabiu Kwankwaso of New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) got 1,496,687.

Tinubu was declared winner of the 2023 presidential election the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

Yakubu said Tinubu, the National Leader of APC won in 12 states out of the 36 States of the Federation but lost to Obi in Lagos State where he governed for eight years between 1999 and 2007.

Similarly, he lost Katsina, the home State of President Muhammadu Buhari, a leader of his party whose second term ends on May, 29 this year to Atiku of the PDP.

The states won by  APC presidential candidate are: Niger, Benue, Kogi, Zamfara, Jigawa, Oyo, Rivers, Ogun, Ondo, Kwara, Ekiti and Borno.

Tinubu’s journey to Aso Rock in Abuja was not a smooth sail as it was long and difficult one. The way to success as they say is always long and difficult. Tinubu, himself attested to this fact by saying that  ascendancy to the president which he himself had noted that is “long life ambition.”

Tinubu had to weather all storms to first cling the ticket of his party in June, 2022 having met stiff opposition from about 23 aspirants jostling for the ticket.

That included even his political allies from the south-west zone including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Governor Kayode Fayem of Ekiti State, Ajayi Borofice, deputy senate leader, Ibikunle Amosun and Demiji Bankole, former speaker of the House of Representatives.

In the middle of race came permutations amongst those in the corridors of power in the villa that President Buhari had an anointed candidate for the 2023 presidency and certainly not Tinubu.

This was largely due to the earlier emergence of Atiku as the presidential standard bearer of the main opposition PDP and the need for APC to also field a northern candidate.

It was part of the political calculation that led to the sudden pronouncement by Abdullahi Adamu, APC national chairman that Ahmad Lawan, president of the senate was the consensus candidate but that was roundly rejected even by his colleagues in the National Working Committee of the part

However, reprieve came the way of Tinubu when APC governors and leaders from the north conceded the contest to the south and one of the aspirants, Governor Abubakar-Badaru of Jigawa withdrew from race with only Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, Senate President Lawan and Sani Yerima, a former Zamfara governor from the north in the race.

The northern APC governors and leaders in their resolution said : “After careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria.

“It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in anyway affected by the decisions taken by another political party. We affirm that upholding this principle is in the interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country.

“We therefore wish to strongly recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari that the search for a successor as the APC’s presidential candidate be limited to our compatriots from the southern states. We appeal to all aspirants from the northern states to withdraw in the national interest and allow only the aspirants from the south to proceed to the primaries.”

After the resolution, Buhari had ordered that a consensus should be reached among the southern aspirants, but all their meeting were in  deadlocked.

This development, paved way for Tinubu  to pick the solo ticket of the party

This was after his famous Abeokuta declaration that it now his turn to be Nigeria’s president, especially after helping Buhari to assume the seat.

“If not for me that stood behind Buhari he wouldn’t have become the president. He tried the first time, he failed, the second time, he failed, the third time, he failed, he even wept on a national television and vowed never to contest again but I went to meet him in Kaduna and told him he will run again, I will stand by you and you will win, but you must not joke with Yorubas and he agreed.

“Since he became the president, I have never got ministerial slots, I didn’t collect any contract, I have never begged for anything from him, it is the turn of Yoruba, it is my turn.”

For those who contested with him to the ballot like Lawan he said: “the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, I would have been a little upset because you competed with me but that is over now since you can easily leak your wounds. It doesn’t take away from thanking you from the past cooperation and cool-headedness to build our country.”

“Since the IG is yet to act on the petition, we are using this press conference to call on the IG to do the needful, he is not above the law, nobody is above the law, Sections 191 and 192 makes it a criminal offence to provide false information on oath. We are also calling on President Buhari to direct the IG to arrest and prosecute Tinubu for perjury, it is a very serious issue”, Kalu said.

That obstacle too was jumped by APC candidate.

Then came the issue of a running mate or vice presidential candidate for which he first submitted the name of Kabir Masari, a former national welfare secretary of the APC as a placeholder for his running mate to meet up with INEC deadline.

Thereafter, Tinubu exploited the lacuna in section Section 31 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

It provides that: “A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the Commission not later than 90 days to the election.”

Though APC did not experience major implosion in the built up to general elections, but the composition of the presidential campaign council almost pitched the party’s NWC against the candidate.

The Adamu-led NWC of the APC had in a leaked letter disapproved of what it called ‘solo’ presidential campaign council constituted by Tinubu,

The APC chairman in the letter said, the NWC received with astonishment and regret, the press release by the council last Friday in which a purported list of appointees was announced, which effectively served as the approved roster of participants in the party’s presidential Campaign Council.

“Perhaps it has become necessary owing to the passage of time, that I should draw Your Excellency’s attention to the agreements that we reached in principle around the final adoption of the PCC list, based on the understanding that it was a work in progress, until such a time that the Joint NWC/PCC Committee that was established to formalise the structure and populate the list, submits its report.

“The NWC believes that any sign of disarray in the party’s ranks will undermine the spirit and ethos of the campaign and give undue alarm to faithful members and followers of the Party across the country.

Close to election, Tinubu faced anotherobstacle with the introduction of cashless policy and currency swap which many, including his opponents approved of it that it was means of weakening his financial war chest the prosecute the election and instigating the people against him because of the hardship that came there with.

Tinubu’s political close and a member of his think, Nasir El-Rufai alleged that the policy were weapons in the arsenal of a cabal in the presidential villa against the APC candidate.

Tinubu himself cried out, again in Abeokuta during campaign when he said: “Let them increase the price of fuel, let them continue to hoard fuel, only them know where they have hoarded fuel, they hoarded money, they hoarded naira; we will go and vote and we will win. Even if they changed the ink on naira notes. Whatever their plans, it will come to naught. We are going to win. Those in the PDP will lose.”

Then the election proper came and against all the odds, including his losing of Lagos where he considered the landlord, and winning only Jigawa and Borno state controlled by APC governors promised to deliver him, Tinubu crossed the sharks infested political ocean.

However, trio of opposition parties, PDP, LP the African Democratic Party (ADC), seeing that results of election favoured Tinubu, called for the outright cancellation of the presidential polls.

PDP and LP later decided that they will challenge the election that declared Tinubu winner in the court of law.