Remarks at a Press Conference by Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, CON Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party on The Supreme Court Judgment of 26th October, 2023 On the 2023 Nigeria Presidential Election Held in Abuja, FCT, on [Monday 6th November, 2023 Protocols.
1. Fellow countrymen and women.
Gentlemen of the Media, Good day and welcome to this press conference. Kindly
permit me to make some brief remarks on the recent ruling of the Supreme Court,
the highest court in Nigeria.
2. About a fortnight ago, I was
traveling abroad on a prior scheduled engagement when I received the notice
that the Supreme Court would give judgment on Thursday 26th October 2023 on our
challenge of the ruling of the
Presidential Election Petitions
Court (PEPC). That judgment has since been delivered as
scheduled. The leadership of the Labour Party has already pronounced its position
on the judgment.
3. As someone who has
previously benefited from the rulings of the Supreme Court on electoral
matters, I have, after a period of deep and sober reflection, decided to
personally and formally react to the recent judgment as most Nigerians have.
Because we are confronted with very weighty
issues of national
interest, I will
speak forthrightly. As student’s
young lads at
CKC, Onitsha, we
were taught values and admonished to always; “choose the harder right,
instead of the easier wrong.”
4. Setting legal issues aside,
the Supreme Court exhibited a disturbing aversion to public opinion just as it
abandoned its responsibility as a court of law and policy. It is, therefore,
with great dismay that I observe that
the Court’s decision
contradicts the overwhelming evidence
of election rigging, false
claim of a
technical glitch, substantial
non-compliance with rules set by INEC itself as well as matters of
perjury,
Identity theft, and forgery
that have been brought to light in the course of this election matter. These
were hefty allegations that should not to be treated with
levity. More appalling,
the Supreme Court
judgment willfully condoned breaches of the Constitution relative to
established qualifications and
parameters for candidates
in presidential elections.
With this counter-intuitive judgment,
the Supreme Court
has transferred a heavy
moral burden from
the courtrooms to
our national conscience. Our young democracy is ultimately the main
victim and casualty of the courtroom drama.
5. Without equivocation, this
judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have
in our judiciary. To that extent, it is a show of unreasonable force against the
very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Constitution derives. This
Supreme Court ruling may represent the state of the law in 2023 but not the
present demand for substantive
justice. The judgment
mixed principles and
precepts. Indeed, the rationale and premise of the Supreme Court judgment,
have become clearer in the light of the deep revealing and troubling
valedictory remarks by
Hon. Justice Musa
Dattijo Muhammad, (JSC) on
Friday 27th October 2023.
6. In disagreeing very strongly
with the ruling of both the Presidential Petitions Court (PEPC) and the Supreme
Court on the outcome of the 25th February 2023 Presidential election as
declared by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as democrats who
believe in the rule of law, we recognize that the Supreme Court is the end
stage of the quest for legal closure to the matter. As a party and as
candidates, Datti and I have now exhausted all legal and constitutional
remedies available to us. However, this end is only another beginning in our
quest for the vindication of the hope of the common man for a better country.
After all, sovereignty belongs to the people! If only for historical purposes,
it behooves us to place our disagreement with and deep reservations about this
judgment on public record.
7. We have long been aware of how weak national
institutions have negatively
affected our democracy.
This year 2023
has been quite remarkable and revealing. INEC has displayed incompetence in the conduct of
its statutory duty.
The judiciary has
largely acted in defiance of constitutional tenets,
precedents, and established ground rules.
Political expediency has
preceded judicial responsibility. A mechanical application of technicalities
has superseded the pursuit of justice and fairness. Both INEC and the Supreme
Court as the referees, respectively shifted the goalposts in the middle of the
game.
8. Where the value and import
of the recent Supreme Court ruling ends
is where our
commitment to a
New Nigeria begins.
Our mission and mandate remain unchanged. From the very onset, our
mission has been more about enthroning a new Nigeria. It is a new nation where
things work, where the country is led from its present waste and consumption
orientation to a production-driven economy. Our commitment
is to a
nation anchored on
the principles of prudent management of resources to quickly pull millions out of
multidimensional poverty, ensuring
transparency and accountability in
the equitable distribution of
opportunities, resources, and privileges. In the new Nigeria, we aim to
address all unmet needs by showing compassion for all those left behind by the
present system.
9. Going
forward, we in
the Labour Party
and the
Obidient Movement are now effectively in opposition. We are glad that
the nation has heard
us loud and
clear. We shall
now expand the confines of our message of hope to the
rest of the country. We shall meet the people in the places where they feel
pain and answer their needs for hope. At marketplaces, motor parks, town halls,
board rooms, and university
and college campuses,
we all carry
and deliver the message of a new Nigeria. As stake holders and elected Labour
Party officials, we shall remain loyal to our manifesto. We will continue to
canvas for good governance and focus on issues that promote national interest,
unity, and cohesion. We will continue to
give primacy to
our Constitution, the
rule of law,
and the protection of
ordered liberties. We
will offer the
checks and balances required
in a functional
democracy and vie
robustly in forthcoming
elections to elect those who share our vision of a new Nigeria.
10. Given our present national
circumstances, there is a compelling need for
a strong political
opposition. We shall,
therefore, remain in opposition, especially
because of the
policies and the
governance modalities that we
in the Labour
Party campaigned for,
especially reducing the cost of governance, moving the nation from consumption
to production, reducing inflation, ending insecurity, promoting the rule of
law, guaranteeing the
responsibility to protect,
and stabilizing the Nigerian currency;
are clearly not
the priorities of
the present administration nor
is it interested in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
11. If there is one thing that
has immensely gladdened my heart in the course of the struggle of the past 18
months, it is the passionate desire of our people, especially our young people
from across ethnic and religious divides, to construct a new and restructured
Nigeria that will work for all Nigerians. That goal remains my guiding light
and abiding inspiration.
12. Finally, I thank all
Nigerians who believed in what is now only a revolution postponed. We deeply
appreciate the unalloyed non-partisan moral support millions of youth and ordinary
Nigerians across ethnic, religious, and geopolitical divides have continued to
give to Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed and me.
13. We
extend our heartfelt
gratitude to the
Nigerians who have supported this mission from the
onset. We salute the leadership and
members of the Labour Party, the Obidient Movement, the Obi-Datti
Presidential Campaign Council,
and Nigerians in the Diaspora, Support Groups, and all people of
goodwill who worked diligently and hoped for the realization of the beginnings
of a New Nigeria in this election cycle.
14. Nigerians who supported our
cause have done so out of patriotism and
their sincere conviction
that our nation
requires and deserves dedicated and visionary leaders who
will lead Nigeria toward a brighter future. The energy and dedication of
Nigerian Youths and the Obedient Movement have been simply amazing. I
appreciate and salute them! I want to assure them that this is not the end of
our journey; but in fact, the beginning. Nigeria heard you. The world has taken
note and will not forget so easily. We shall endure, persist, until we get to
our destination because a new Nigeria is our destination. A destination not an
event.
15. We thank, in a special way,
our legal team. We also thank our elder States-Men, whose wise counsel were immeasurable
To them, we wish to state unequivocally that
this judicial outcome
– an obvious misrepresentation of substantial justice
– has by no means foreclosed the realization of a new Nigeria that is Possible.
16. On a personal note, I take
personal pride and express gratitude to those who share our vision; and who
have also exhibited rare courage to challenge the nefarious system, the
genuineness of individuals’ identities and
their defining and
qualifying particulars up
to the highest
extent allowed by law. Nigeria holds out hope of infinite possibilities
leading to our desirable greatness.
I remain consistent
in my belief
in the possibility of a new
Nigeria built on character competence, capacity, compassion, integrity, and
respect for the rule of law based on justice and fairness.
17. God bless us all. God bless
the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, CON
Presidential Candidate of Labour Party.
Obi –Datti Campaign
Organization Office Abuja, FCT. Monday 6th November 2023.
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