The PAN Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF) has lambasted the legal counsels of the presidential candidates of the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, respectively, for not making a substantial and evidential case for their clients.
Reacting to the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court that upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu and dismissed the petitions of Obi and Atiku challenging it, PANDEF, through its National Publicity Director, Ken Robinson, stated that the lapses in the presentations by the counsel for LP and PDP were regrettable, adding that the lawyers did not do due diligence on the matter.
Robinson said: “We followed the extensive judgment that lasted for about 11 hours, and it was elaborate. The justices of the Court of Appeal made exclusive explanations and detailed rulings on the matter.
“For an ordinary man who is not a lawyer, what we saw and witnessed yesterday seems to be sound, and the statements that the judges made were so explicit that even the ordinary man will understand that the petitioners did not do a good job.
“Of course, there is room for appeal by those who are dissatisfied with the judgment of the tribunal. With what we witnessed yesterday, without being preemptive, it was an exclusive judgment, and the facts of the matter were very clear. I think the judges did a good job.
“With due respect to the learned lawyers who handled those petitions, perhaps they need to apologize to their masters and principals who gave them those jobs. From what we witnessed yesterday, they did not do a good job.
“People will express emotions, but the court does not look at the emotion but at the evidence brought before it. For us, we will appeal to those who are dissatisfied with the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to explore the avenue of appeal.
“In the interest of Nigeria, national unity, peace, and the overall development of this country and our democracy, nobody should take laws into their hands.
“Nobody should even castigate or go into name-calling against the judiciary. They have done their job very transparently, as it should be done. For us in PANDEF, we will call all those who are dissatisfied to explore the avenue of appeal and avoid making statements that will heat up the polity.”
