PDP heads to Supreme Court, says tribunal ruling, subversion of justice

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it has completely rejected the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed the election of President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.

In its reaction to the judgement, the party described it as provocative, barefaced subversion of justice and direct assault on the integrity of our nation’s justice system.

A statement issued in Abuja by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary said the party was particularly shocked that the tribunal failed to point to justice despite “the flawless evidence laid before it, showing that President Buhari was not only unqualified to contest the election but also did not score the majority of valid votes at the polls.”

The PDP said it found as bewildering that a court of law could validate a clear case of perjury and declaration of false information in a sworn affidavit, as firmly established against President Muhammadu Buhari, even in the face of incontrovertible evidence.

The party said it was also rudely shocked that the Tribunal “took over the roles of the Respondents’ lawyers who clearly abandoned their pleadings by refusing to call evidence in defense of the petition. The court raked up all manner of excuses to make up for the yawning gaps occasioned by the total absence of any evidence from the Respondents.”

The statement maintained: “Nigerians and the international community watched in utter disbelief when the tribunal ruled that one need not provide a copy or certified true copy of educational certificate such individual claimed to possess, contrary to established proof of claims of certification.”

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The party noted as strange that the court even went ahead to provide rationalisations in favour of President Buhari, “even when all hard facts before it shows that he did not possess the claimed educational certificate and that the Army was not in possession of his WAEC certificate as claimed in the affidavit he deposed to in his Presidential nomination form.”

The PDP also described as shocking that the court approved the “flawed declaration of President Buhari as the winner of the election despite evidence to show the perpetration of illegalities, manipulations, alterations and subtraction of valid votes freely given to Atiku Abubakar by Nigerians.”

PDP further said: “Indeed, the pervading melancholic atmosphere across our nation since the verdict is a direct indication that the judgment has not fulfilled the desires and expectations of Nigerians.”

The PDP, however, encouraged Nigerians to remain calm and not to lose hope or surrender to despondency or self-help, as its lawyers were upbeat in obtaining justice at the Supreme Court.

“This is more so as the tribunal itself admitted that there are several errors in the judgment,” the statement added.