The Buhari Presidency has
welcomed the elucidation of the Supreme Court 30 October ruling on the petition
by the PDP and Atiku Abubakar’s petitions and urged the Peoples Democratic
Party to take up its mandate as the opposition party.
“Now it is time for the PDP to
take up the service mandated by this election.The legislative agenda of the
ninth assembly is ambitious in both size and scope. It is critical the
opposition is there to scrutinise bills and policies, rather than preoccupy
themselves with unsustainable court cases”, said Garba Shehu, SSA to the
president in a statement appreciating the court for its position.
“We appreciate the PDP and their
candidate for taking these claims to courts rather than expressing them in
other ways, but now Nigeria needs a robust and rigorous opposition. The nation
needs to move on.
Shehu’s statement underscored
three salient points of the Supreme Court verdict, among which is that the onus
of proof must necessarily fall on those that challenge the vote.
“Allegations must be
substantiated if they are to hold, and this requires producing credible
witnesses that verify key claims. As the Supreme Court has stated, the case
failed this test.
“On the issue of qualifications,
President Buhari has a long history of service to the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
“The questioning of this fact
seems to fly in the face of all evidence”, Shehu wrote..
“While it is correct to give
credit to the courts for affirming this electoral victory-and we commend the
courage of the bench to arrive at the right conclusion given manifest and
subtle pressures to do otherwise-the reality is that courts were convinced by
arguments from the lawyers representing the APC and its candidate, President
Muhammadu Buhari that results reflected the true wishes of a majority of our
citizens.
“President Buhari won four
million more votes than his closest rival, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the
February poll.
“No serious electoral observers
have challenged this result. And now the Supreme Court has explained why the
PDP appeal is unsubstantiated. We hope this finally puts the matter behind us.
“We should now grasp this moment
to move forward – together”, Shehu added.
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