Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi has reacted to a protest allegedly planned by his supporters known as Obidients across the country.
Peter Obi in a statement via his verified twitter page, reacting to the purported protest tagged; #ENDINEC and #ENDNigeria called on his supporters to exercise patience and have faith in the judiciary in reclaiming their stolen mandate rather than going to the street for protest.
Obi who described himself as a firm believer in the separation of powers between the three arms of government, said he is conscious that the Judiciary will vindicate itself on epochal national public-interest issues relating to the matter presently before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).
The full statement read:
“My attention has been drawn to social media postings suggesting that a nation-wide groundswell “#ENDINEC”, “#ENDNigeria” Protest is being planned by the Obidients. We are aware that those postings are being orchestrated by the Opposition.
“My position is clear: Without prejudice to constitutional dictates on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, I have publicly stated that in the matter of reclaiming our stolen mandate, we shall do so robustly, via the Courts and Due Process.
“Regardless of the misgivings many may have about our Judiciary, we must strive to build strong and resilient institutions, of which the Judiciary is one. As a firm believer in the separation of powers between the three arms of government, I am conscious that every so often, the Judiciary is called upon to vindicate itself on epochal national public-interest issues. The matter presently before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) is one such litmus test case.
“Therefore, we are committed to pursuing Due Process in an unfettered manner. That is our primary and priority option, Obi said.
AbaCityBlog recalled that the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Yakubu Mahmood on Wednesday morning declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as winner of the election.
Yakubu, who announced the final result at exactly 3:55 am Wednesday, after three days of collation of results from across the 36 states of the federation and FCT, said Tinubu polled a total 8,794,726 votes.
The INEC Chairman said that Tinubu defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who recorded 6,984,520 votes and Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) who polled 6,101,533 votes to come second and third respectively.
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
However, Obi who is challenging the process at the Presidential Election Tribunal (PTE) said the election was a daylight robbery and would use all legitimate means, including the courts, to reclaim the mandate given to him and his running mate, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed.
He also berated INEC for conducting the worst elections in Nigeria’s history, which he said fall, even below the minimum standards.
