Supreme Court Ruling: Nigerian Judiciary Sabotaged, Undermined – Atiku

Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday said that the Supreme Court is not final because it is infallible, but that it is infallible because it is final.

He was reacting to the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nigeria which affirmed the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 23 February, presidential election.

A seven-man panel of the court, led by Justice Tanko Ibrahim Mohammed, dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the victory of Buhari at the presidential election.

The panel in a unanimous judgement said there is no merit in the appeal.

The CJN added that the panel has been reviewing the case for the past two weeks.

He said that reasons for the dismissal of the appeals to be given in a later date.

Atiku and PDP had on September 24 filed an appeal against the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT, at the Supreme Court.

PEPT had on September 11, dismissed the petition filed by Atiku and the PDP in its entirety, adding that the petitioners could not prove that President Buhari was not elected by popular votes.

Also Read: Supreme Court Ruling: Nigerian Judiciary Sabotaged, Undermined – Atiku

Atiku in a statement said “While I believe that only God is infallible everywhere, and only Nigerians are infallible in our democracy, I must accept that the judicial route I chose to take, as a Democrat, has come to a conclusion.

“Whether justice was done, is left to the Nigerian people to decide. As a democrat, I fought a good fight for the Nigerian people. I will keep on fighting for Nigeria and for democracy, and also for justice.

“The Nigerian judiciary, just like every estate of our realm, has been sabotaged & undermined by an overreaching and dictatorial cabal, who have undone almost all the democratic progress the and its administrations nurtured for sixteen years, up until 2015.

“Can Nigeria continue like this? Recently, former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, averred that Nigeria had rolled back the democratic gains she made in 2015.

“When democracy is rolled back, the economy, the society and the judiciary will not be far behind. Today, the nail has been put on the coffin and the gains we collectively made since 1999 are evaporating, and a requiem is at hand.
Atiku Abubakar

“In a democracy, you need a strong judiciary, a free press and an impartial electoral umpire. Nigeria has none of those three elements as at today.

“One man, one woman, one youth, one vote, should be the only way to make gains in a democracy. And when that is thwarted, the clock starts to tick.

“Two and a half millennia ago, Sophocles said “If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: “Thou shalt not ration justice.” Nigeria will do well to observe this warning.

“To those who think they have broken my spirit, I am sorry to disappoint you. I am too focused on Nigeria to think about myself. I gave up that luxury twenty years ago. The question is not if I am broken. The question is if Nigeria is whole?

“This is not a time for too many words. It will suffice for me to remind Nigeria of this – we are an independent nation and we are the architects of our fate. If we do not build a free Nigeria, we may end up destroying her, and God forbid that that should be the case.

“I was a democrat, I am a democrat, and I will always continue to be a democrat. May God bless Nigeria”