The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomole, said his party is ready to face the main opposition party, PDP, and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, at the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday it was reported how the five-member Presidential Election Tribunal dismissed arguments presented by the petitioners against the victory of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, at the February 23, 2019 presidential election.
Mr Abubakar and his party have condemned the ruling as a “subversion of justice” and vowed to challenge the verdict at the Supreme Court.
Oshiomhole
Mr Oshiomole, in his reaction on Thursday, after his meeting with President Buhari, said the PDP and its presidential candidate will be defeated again.
The Punch newspaper reported that Mr Oshiomhole said this in the company of the party’s National Women Leader, Salamatu Umar-Eluma, and others who went to congratulate the president over his victory at tribunal.
“We as a party we are confident that if it is within the Nigerian law for the PDP to go even to the World Court, we will meet them there,” Mr Oshiomhole said. “The Supreme Court of Nigeria is not that of the PDP or the APC. The Supreme Court is governed by law and it’s to interpret the evidence before the Court of Appeal. They are not at liberty to introduce new issues, neither can they bring in new witnesses.
“So, if it is what I heard yesterday, which I believe you also heard; thanks to the media, most Nigerians were detained for eight hours listening to arguments of the judges one after the other. Even though we thought it was getting longer and longer, we realised that they tried to deal with the issues raised, even the ones you and I as laymen will consider inconsequential. They dealt with each of them, trashed them and arrived at a conclusion.
“So, I don’t want to sound arrogant. Yesterday (Wednesday), I said that I hoped this whole contest is about Nigeria, who actually won the election and both parties were committed to building Nigeria. It’s not about who should be given the key.
“Now, this has been resolved and it is time to queue behind the winner and move on. Our winner is the best example that losing an election is not tantamount to the end of your political life. He lost three previous elections, and today he is the President.
“President Buhari is now ready to meet defeated Atiku Abubakar at the Supreme Court. The APC is ready to meet the PDP at the Supreme Court. Adams Oshiomhole is ready to meet my brother, (Uche) Secondus, at the Supreme Court; and he will take second and I will take first, Isha Allah,” Mr Oshiomhole said.
Buhari
Meanwhile, President Buhari while receiving the women leaders, justified his reasons for “trusting the women with the country’s treasury in his two terms in office”.
“I am happy that I can defend myself very effectively on this issue. The APC leader is my witness. Since the coming into power of this administration, I have handed over the treasury to women.
“Even at household level, you hand over the money to women to manage. It can be taken to the level of managing the country’s treasury as well. I have consistently given it to women. It is strategic,” President Buhari said.
Mrs Umar-Eluma, in her reaction, thanked Mr Buhari for appointing women as ministers.
