…Igbo Group Objects to Tinubu’s Inauguration on May 29 While Court Cases are Pending 

Olawale Ajimotokan, Abuja

The Igbo Patriotic Forum, has cautioned against the swearing-in of Bola Tinubu on May 29, as the president without allowing the Supreme Court to resolve all petitions by aggrieved parties on the presidential election.

Chairman of the forum, Dr Simon Okeke, who addressed the media at Chelsea Hotel, Abuja, over the weekend, said anything to the contrary might be an open invitation for anarchy.

“The constitution never said the president must be sworn in on May 29. So, let us allow the judiciary to do its work,” he pleaded.
Okeke noted that failure of INEC to meet most of its set guidelines, including non-transmission of votes in real time from the poling units to its central server, has prompted the presidential election to be challenged by five of the major political parties, including the Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Igbo Forum urged the judiciary to consider the general interest of the citizens, as well as the cooperate existence of the country in handling the electoral petitions in order to avoid miscarriage of justice that may precipitate serious crisis in the country.

“Since the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) allows anyone aggrieved after the announcement by INEC of the general election result to go on appeal from the Tribunal to the Supreme court to determine the final winner of the election, it stands to reason that no one should be sworn in as the winner before the apex court pronounces who, in its opinion, is the true winner of that election.

“Common sense requires that until the apex court pronounces, who the winner is, the election is only midway and not over yet,” Okeke said, even as he admonished that swearing-in anyone as the winner of that election would tantamount to announcing the result of a match in the middle of a game as the process is inconclusive in the eye of the law.

“The match ends with the apex court announcing who in its opinion is the winner of that election. We, therefore urge the President to swear in only the person adjudged by the apex court to be the winner of the election,” he said.