Nigeria: Atiku to keep fighting as supreme court affirms Buhari’s election
London, Oct 30, 2019 (AltAfrica)-Supreme Court has dismissed the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, over this year’s presidential election.
But the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, said the judiciary has been sabotaged, accusing an alleged ‘cabal’ of disrupting Nigeria’s democratic progress.
Abubakar Atiku and his party had jointly filed their appeal before the apex court to challenge the September 11 judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the election.
Mr Atiku and the PDP filed eight appeals, and the governing All Progressives Congress also has a cross appeal.
The seven-justice panel of the Supreme Court was led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad.
The apex court said it will give reasons for the judgment at a later date.
Atiku said the overreaching and dictatorial cabal has undone the gains the Peoples Democratic Party and its administrations nurtured for sixteen years.
The former vice president promised to keep fighting for Nigeria, democracy and justice and disappoint those who think they have broken his spirit.
In a statement, the former vice-president cried foul over the judgement and accused the “cabal” of disrupting Nigeria’s democratic progress.
“The Nigerian judiciary, just like every estate of our realm, has been sabotaged and undermined by an overreaching and dictatorial cabal, who have undone almost all the democratic progress the Peoples Democratic Party and its administrations nurtured for sixteen years, up until 2015,” he said.
“Can Nigeria continue like this? Recently, former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, averred that Nigeria had rolled back the democratic gains she made in 2015. When democracy is rolled back, the economy, the society and the judiciary will not be far behind.
“Today, the nail has been put on the coffin and the gains we collectively made since 1999 are evaporating, and a requiem is at hand.”
He said a democracy should constitute a strong judiciary, a free press and an impartial electoral umpire, adding that “Nigeria has none of those three elements as at today”.
Atiku added that he will keep on “fighting for Nigeria and for democracy, and also for justice”.
“To those who think they have broken my spirit, I am sorry to disappoint you,” he said.
“I am too focused on Nigeria to think about myself. I gave up that luxury twenty years ago. The question is not if I am broken. The question is if Nigeria is whole?
“This is not a time for too many words. It will suffice for me to remind Nigeria of this – we are an independent nation and we are the architects of our fate. If we do not build a free Nigeria, we may end up destroying her, and God forbid that that should be the case.”
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