Supreme Court legalising illegality, criminality – Atiku Abubakar

The presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the Supreme Court of legalising illegality, forgery and identity theft.

Abubakar said this in at a press conference on Monday, October 30, in Abuja.

He spoke for the first time after the Supreme Court dismissed his petition against the victory of President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, October 26.

Abubakar said that with the judgement, the Supreme Court told Nigerians to win an election by any means, including “forgery, identity theft and violence.”

“If the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, implies that crime is good and should be rewarded, then Nigeria is lost,” the former vice-president said, adding “It is not about me; it is about our country, Nigeria and the future.

“It is about the kind of society we want to leave for the next generation and what kind of example we want to set for our children. It is about the reputation of Nigeria and Nigerians in the eyes of the world. We showed evidence that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the presidential election because he forged the qualifying academic certificate.”

Abubakar argued that the consequences of the Supreme Court decision on his case against Tinubu would not end at the expiration of the current government but would last for several years.

He added that he had always fought for democracy and would always do so till he dies.

“In one incident, nine policemen guarding my home in Kaduna were murdered in an attempt to assassinate me. I was also forced into exile for nine months.

“In addition, my interest in a logistics company that I co-owned was confiscated and given to friends of the military government. As Vice President in the civilian government that succeeded the military, I, again at great personal cost, chose to oppose the extension of the tenure of the government beyond the two four-year terms enshrined in our constitution,” he said.

Abubakar explained that evidence tendered in court against Tinubu was procured with the assistance of the American Court to help it do justice in the case.

He claimed INEC undermined the technology approved for use by its Act during the elections and collation process and proceeded to declare Tinubu as the winner.

He said when people lost trust and confidence in elections, democracy will be on a life support.

The PDP candidate said Nigerians knew the person sitting in office as their President, how he got there, and the dangers his stay in office portended for them and the country.

On whether he would be retiring, Abubakar said, “For as long as I breathe, I will continue to struggle, with other Nigerians, to deepen our democracy and the rule of law and for the kind of political and economic restructuring the country needs to reach its true potential.”

It would be recalled how the apex court dismissed the appeals by Atiku and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi.

On Wednesday, March 1, The INEC declared Tinubu winner of the presidential election conducted on February 25.

Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat a dozen other candidates, including three major ones, namely the PDP’s Abubakar, LP’s Obi and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNP)’s Rabiu Kwankwaso.

According to the election results announced by INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu, Abubakar came second with 6,984,520 votes, Obi followed closely with 6,101,533 votes, and Kwankwaso got 1,496,687.