Presidential Poll: Judgement Foretold

It was the earnest expectation in some quarters that the votes that produced Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the president would not stand the scrutiny of the courts. Those outside the Tinubu Camp, especially in the All Progressives Congress (APC) were emphatic that it was just a matter of time for the electoral triumph of the APC in the presidential poll to fizzle out.

That was not to be as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), headed by Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, dismissed the complaints of the petitioners and declared that the APC candidate was duly elected. The court also maintained that the generic claims by the both petitioners, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) was grossly inadequate to invalidate the election.

Determined to ensure they take their cases to the highest court in the land, those opposed to the electoral triumph of the former Lagos State governor headed for the Supreme Court were they prayed the Court should nullify the result of the 2023 presidential poll by either disqualifying the APC candidate on allegations of certificate forgery or call for a rerun between the two parties that polled the highest votes.

The final verdict

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When on Thursday the Apex Court upheld the election of Tinubu, it became very obvious that those who had resorted to ensuring the president loses at the Supreme Court were only engaged in an exercise of futility. Upholding the verdict of the Appeal Court Justices, the Apex Court rejected Atiku Abubakar’s prayers to introduce new evidence to prove that Tinubu indeed forged his certificates, among other allegations.   

By Thursday, it was clear that following the validation of Tinubu by the highest court in the land, those interested in fighting Tinubu’s election were only engaged in staging a baseless war that was gone for good. As the final verdict on the 2023 poll sank deep, both supporters and opponents of the apostle of ‘Renewed Hope’ are now fully conscious that the focus and emphasis should now be shifted from political partisanship to collaboration and partnership in moving the country forward. Amidst the silence of anguish in some quarters not favoured by the court verdict, not even the negative portrait of the Judiciary is capable of reversing the hand of the clock. If the court declares the APC won the 2023 presidential election, so be it.

 Can Tinubu Unite Nigerians for a new dawn?

For a man who walked his way from being a godfather to a king, there are many forces that require urgent attention. Now that the Supreme Court has spoken, Tinubu must rise up and find partners to advance the cause of the Nigerian State, not along the path of partisanship but on the path of a renewed commitment for excellence and competence.

In the last week or so, there have been discordant tunes over some of the Tinubu appointments described as insensitive and deliberate efforts at empowering prominent politicians. The presidency recently withdrew the nomination of a 24-year-old young man who was to serve as the Chairman of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Egr Imam Kashim, on account of public denunciation against the nomination. A clear sign that the president is ready to listen has to do with his willingness to listen to public opinion at all times. When a leader shows capacity to review certain actions described as anti-people; then there is hope for a democratic nation. However, when leadership becomes stubborn and refuses to listen; it only takes a little while to have such a leader plunge his country into the abyss. 

 Getting the best of present dilemma

For Nigeria to pull itself from the brink, the Tinubu presidency must walk towards tackling some of the country’s urgent crises bedeviling the issues. Though the country is sorely divided at this time, the Tinubu-led presidency cannot continue to play dumb at the crippling poverty and monstrous insecurity ripping across the country. If the Nigerian government won’t allow the four collapsed refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna to work, they should work towards allowing illegal refineries to breathe so as to reduce the present needless suffering in the land.

There is no controversy that Nigeria, as a country, has been run, not on the basis of merit and competence, but founded on ethnicity, another name for regionalism. Ahead of the 1960 independence, founding fathers of Nigeria only advocated securing valued advantages for their regions. It has been a long walk from that time till now when pecuniary interest and the emergence of a power cabal now dominate the fulcrum of power struggle in the country.

In the struggle for political dominance, ethnicity and religion have become the lubricants with which politics is played. As I write this piece, the hope for a new Nigeria is not premised on the expired system of domination and lack of transparency; it is based on equity and justice for all. If President Tinubu hopes to build a new nation that is committed to good governance, institutions must be strengthened and protected from the interference of political leaders. Our country must be brought back to its former productive level and allow citizens to produce what they eat, wear and ride.

Ahead of Nigerians in the next four years, to be superintended by the Jagaba, are our hopes and fears. How the country turns out to be eventually before 2027 when the electorates return to the polling polls to elect another president depends on what Tinubu does now. To say the truth, our nation is in the shadows of indescribable suffering. If we must survive these harrowing times that have become a nightmare for many; citizens must stand up for Nation and God and think less of what they stand to gain.

We can’t go further from the mud that has kept us in one place without a resolute commitment in avoiding the inglorious past. As a nation, we have so long sojourned on this uninspiring level that has seen us enthrone the worship of money, including praising those who violated the rules of engagement being found in the congregation of the righteous. Our nation runs a system that rewards crimes and discourages those devoted to truth and honesty.

As it is now, criminals stalk us in both our economic and political lives. The incapacity of religion has been demonstrated with all proof that our systems remain our greatest albatross. President Tinubu should see his victory at the Supreme Court as an opportunity to serve and rewrite the calamities confronting citizens. If he succeeds in this task, Tinubu shall be remembered as that leader who renewed the hope of his fellow citizens.