PEPT Judgment will destroy Electoral Act 2022 if allowed to stand – Kenneth Okonkwo

Nollywood actor cum Labour Party (LP) chieftain, Kenneth Okonkwo, has faulted the final verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), saying it is inherently contradictory and illogical.

The PEPT on Wednesday affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu and dismissed the petitions of LP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar.

The tribunal, while ruling on whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was right to return Tinubu as the duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast, held that Atiku and Obi did not successfully prove their petition seeking to remove Tinubu from office.

On the issue of 25% in Abuja, PEPT ruled that the FCT does not enjoy special privileges ahead of other states.

Reacting to the development, Kenneth, in a post via X, formerly known as Twitter, opined that the judgment, if allowed to stand, will destroy every achievement the Electoral Actor 2022 was designed to achieve.

The movie star noted that the verdict would set the country back to the pre-democratic era when manual collation was an albatross of election.

Kenneth further said it was an analogue judgment applied to a technologically advanced Electoral Act 2022, adding he disagrees with the entire verdict.

According to him “The PEPC judgment is inherently contradictory and illogical and, if allowed to stand, will destroy every achievement the Electoral Act,2022, was designed to achieve. This judgment will set us back to pre-1999 election era when manual collation was the albatross of our elections.

“Those who publicly stated that BVAS will destroy our democracy are now trying to destroy the BVAS using this judgment. This judgment does not appreciate the intendment of the Legislature for the technological advancement of our elections and appears bent on destroying it.

“This judgment is an analogue judgment applied to a technologically advanced Electoral Act 2022. To rule that civil forfeiture is not a fine as contemplated by the Constitution is to overule the decision of the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

“A court which cited the preamble of the Constitution to explain away scoring 25% in FCT, couldn’t use the preamble of the Electoral Act to explain the clear intention of the lawmakers regarding the electronic transmission of results. I disagree with this judgment in its entirety.”