The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has reacted to the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal’s dismissal of the petition by People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, candidate against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Its spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere, in a statement on Wednesday, said the verdict was an insult to Nigerians.
It said from the totality of the judgment, what the tribunal failed to do was to “put an end to electoral fraud, leadership incompetence and the imposition of an unfit leader on the people”.
CUPP said: “By their judgment today, majority of Nigerians who had believed, though erroneously, that the judiciary was indeed independent have been brazenly awakened to the fact and correct belief that the Presidency had successfully hijacked the arm and Nigerians can only expect judgments and not justice.
“Could the Court as it had done in times past not this time also considered the state of the nation, mood of Nigerians, national security issues and taken a decision boldly, impartially and firmly in the interest of Nigerians and Nigeria?
“Today’s judgment is a manipulation of the law and the brazen use of technicality to stamp injustice, rob the people of justice and deny the nation the
chance to have a leader that they truly elected in the person of Atiku
Abubakar.
“The Nation weeps today; west Africa is crying and the international community is in shock. Our brothers who are been held hostages by poverty, bandits, killed daily etc are now in coma as the appeal court have used today judgment to deny them a saviour and foisted on them a leader who was not eligible for presidential office.
“A leader who does not have the capacity to govern, a leader who rode on the blood of our people to power using security agencies, a leader who employ divisive weapon and ethnicity in governance and a leader who claims to be fighting corruption but dinning and sleeping with men know to be
corrupt.
“We, however, state that we anticipated the villa panel beaten judgment from the justices of court presided over by the wife of a ruling party chieftain and Senator.
“The delay in appointing a replacement when the opposition to her presiding over the panel could not be withstood despite her desperate fight is very instructive of the mindset of the Court.
“The Court of Appeal is clearly in need of cleansing and Nigerians should join in the clamour for that cleansing particularly to immune the Court from political interference.
“The midnight attack on the homes of some fearless judges, the obnoxious and arbitrary removal of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria and the imposition of a new CJN are pointers to the total hijack of the judiciary for the purpose of serving the executive today’s milk and honey. We duly raised alarm then.
“However as lawful citizens and apostles of the rule of law, we wish to announce to Nigerians not to lose hope because our consensus candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is heading to the Supreme Court for a final appeal to reclaim the peoples mandate given to him.”
