PEPT Judgement: Early Reaction and Predictions Point to Tinubu's Victory

By. Kingsley Ihearindueme

Wednesday 9th September, 2023 witnessed an atmospheric temperature of the country rising to a point of feverish and tensed condition. This is ostensibly as a result of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT judgement slated for the day.

While some pundits, especially from the opposition side went as far as predicting some unprintable tales that would befall the country should the outcome not going their way, others mostly from those who believe in the courageousness and uprightness of the country's judiciary were however firm in their analytical and unwavering stand in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu scaling through the PEPT final judgement.

Recall that the two main opposition parties and their candidates, Alh Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples' Democratic

 Party, PDP and Mr. Peter 

 Obi of the Labour Party, LP, including the Action Democratic Party, ADP went to court to challenge  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's victory at the 25th February, 2023 presidential election as announced by the Independent National

 Electoral Commission, INEC.

          Hon Aliyu, APC North Central Youth Leader

The PEPT which sat for a couple of months to entertain the matter brought before it by the litigants, however set aside 9th September, 2023 for judgement. This day, 9th September, 2023 given the time consumption spent while         delivering the judgement would certainly be etched into history for being the longest presidential election verdict ever witnessed in the annal history of the country. 

The commencement of the sitting which kick- started at the early hours of the day, however stretched into the night, around 10pm before final judgement was delivered by the five erudite jurists.

The final judgement was however in tandem with  premeditated predictions of victory in favour of

 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which came from a cross section of supporters, party stalwarts and admirers who throng the popular Federal Secretariat; a stone throw to the venue of the Tribunal sitting.

These crop of people are indeed made up of die -hard and optimistic APC supporters who believe that come rain, come sun shine, BAT would eventually win. Their reason, were no doubt, not far fetched as according to some of them, they have all done the needful during the election by voting massively for Tinubu and again that the party's legal team have discharged their duties diligently and tenaciously to the point that nothing again would upturn the verdict against Mr. President.

Majority of the supporters, mostly the youth and women were seen singing and dancing in anticipation of victory verdict while at the same time displaying placards with inscriptions declaring support for Mr Tinubu.

Amongst the notable bigwigs s

potted at few kilometers from the Tribunal premises are  Hon. Dayo Israel, APC National Youth Leader with mammoth crowd of youth, Mr. Segun Dada, Special Adviser to Mr. President on Social Media, Alh. Asari Dokubo, leader of the defunct Niger Delta  Peoples' Front alongside hundreds of his militant group, some of whom were seen file out in long lines chanting victorious songs.

Leading the pack of those optimists that predicted for Bola Ahmed Tinubu's PEPT judgement victory is Mr Segun Dada who spoke very passionately and at the same time did not hide his unwavering optimism to the direction the verdict would tilt to. In all ramifications, he underscores one major point which was that

 President BAT as he is fondly called would sail into victory at the end of the day.

"We are confident of victory as the opposition does not have any evidence to prove their case", Dada quipped, adding that the judiciary certainly will establish the wishes of the people.

He went further to admonish those trying to lure young people into the streets to cause trouble and intimidate the judiciary.

While contributing, Comrade Ekior-Zua

 Boma Daniels, one of the co-ordinators of the Niger Delta Peoples'

 Salvation Front noted that since the inception of the PEPT's sitting, about 109 days, they have kept virgil around the vicinity of the Tribunal premises as according to him, inorder to demonstrate their solidarity to Mr.  President's quest for victory.

This action, obviously became a desideratum, owing to what Mr. Daniels tagged wrong signal and sentiments been whipped up and engineered by some disgruntled elements in the country inorder to foment trouble.

Comrade Daniels, very energetic as he is, used the opportunity to mince no words by sounding a note of warning against those who may precipitate any such dastardly move against the country's hard earned democratic rule.

Also harping on the same optimistic trajectory support lane for  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's election petition judgement victory is Mr. Mark  Lemu who equally expressed his overt optimism at Mr. President winning at the Tribunal.

Mr Lemu who is the media aide to Alh Asari Dokubo, however urged Nigerians to rally round in support of President Tinubu's administration, accept the Tribunal verdict, maintaining that even though the administration inherited a battered economy, that the president has demonstrated enough courage to right the wrongs for the good of the entire Nigerians.

This, he stated further by saying that Mr President has started doing this by way of constituting a team of well experienced technocrats and politicians as ministers.

While making his own contributions, Hon. Zubair Aliyu was more prophetic and he went on to remark that God has already given Nigerians the verdict, pointing that nothing would thereafter change the tide.

He also went ahead to state that since assumption of duty, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has gone ahead to make the country great by taking hard decisions that is not only people centric but also has long range result.

With the Presidential

 Election Petition court unanimously affirming  

 BAT's election, it however brought the first leg of the legal battle to an end, leaving the opposition with an option of appealing at the Supreme court.

The election battle is however regarded as one of the country's most tightly fought elections in which BAT won 37% of the votes beating Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party to secure victory.