Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) candidate for president in the 2019 and 2023 elections, has explained why he chose not to file a legal challenge to President Bill Tinubu’s election victory like other opposition parties did.
He claimed that even if he had done so, he didn’t believe that justice would have been done, adding that he had no faith in the court because it had never previously rendered justice in election-related cases.
The courts in Nigeria have never declared an election invalid, so Sowore questioned why Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, the candidates for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, would believe their situation would be unique while taking calls on Arise News.
His response came after the tribunal’s decision on the presidential election petition on Wednesday. The tribunal had upheld President Bole Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election on February 25.
Recall that Tinubu’s victory had been contested in court by Atiku and Obi, along with their respective parties. However, the tribunal yesterday upheld Tinubu’s victory while dismissing their cases.
“What you are saying regarding the Labour Party and the PDP is what people like us have always said that they are the same,” Sowore responded.
“We do not belong to that alliance or coalition. And speaking of the court, go there when someone steals your property and you try to get it back from him but he refuses. You must wait until the court starts meeting.
But when I am cheated on this scale, I’m not likely to go to the same court that gave you a governor who finished fourth in Imo state. I cannot say that I have implicit or explicit confidence in a court that has not upheld the rights of individuals like me since I was born in this nation.
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“If you go to court, you can pretty much predict what the verdict will be.”
Further, it was discovered that the AAC presidential candidate noted that opposition parties are frequently persuaded to enter legal proceedings as a means of calming Nigerians.
“The courts in Nigeria have never declared a presidential election invalid,” he continued. Even in 2007, when they held an election without serial numbers on the ballots, the court ruled that you don’t need them, and Yar’Adua, the candidate for whom President Olusegun Obasanjo rigged the election, came out and said this election was problematic. Nevertheless, he took the plunder.
Therefore, I don’t think we should go to a court that might not be able to or hasn’t rendered justice in cases like ours.
“I believe that they are asking these individuals to appear in court so as to calm Nigerians’ nerves and get them to accept this nonsense as a fait accompli.”And they made sure there were no street uprisings to reclaim the stolen mandate of whatever rigged election they held.
“Because they are aware of the likely result, they direct you to the courtroom. Additionally, we are aware of how these courts are chosen by the ruling political parties. Therefore, we cannot be here fooling ourselves.
