ABUJA 25 PER CENT: VICTORY FOR NIGERIANS

The judgment of the PEPT reflects our democracy as being on sound footing, reckons Joshua J. Omojuwa

It started like a joke. It continued to look like one until it actually became part of an election petition. A claim that pretended to misunderstand section 134(2) of the Nigerian constitution. That section states, “A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election, he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and must have nothing less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.” On Wednesday, the joke was handed a much-needed legal rest. The judges deemed the agenda, “completely fallacious, if not outrightly ludicrous”. I’d go with both, unequivocally.

In essence, the Labour Party and Mr Peter Obi‘s petition was arguing for an apartheid state. A country where the votes of the minority in Abuja could render the votes of Nigerians elsewhere less important. It was never going to pass any legal or even common sense test, but imagine for a bit that it did.

We would have a situation where every logical Nigerian of means and ability would seek to be an Abuja voter. Because according to the Obi argument, even if one won all the votes in the other 36 sub-nationals, as long as you scored less than 25 percent in Abuja, you were not to be declared president. That was the argument they made. Even if they had a more serious case at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), it would have taken something otherworldly to successfully make an argument that would even make any judge pay any attention. Sadly, the Labour petition was generally weak and appeared to be unserious overall. Over 75 percent of their witnesses were proven to be bad witnesses. The judges struck off 10 of 13 of them.

Of the matters before the tribunal, this Abuja special status matter was the very one that never should have been. There was nothing to test in court here. The constitution was addressing a mathematical issue, that in the calculations, consider Abuja and the 36 states and then do your maths using 37 as baseline. 25/100 x 37 instead of 25/100 x 36. This was the whole point of section 134(2). That politicians desperately went to court to use that as an opportunity to win an election against what that would portend for Nigeria — that some votes are more important than others — speaks to the desperate length people can go when it comes to the pursuit of power. This is exactly what Nigeria does not need. I hope people will do better.

The judgment by the PEPT serves our country and reflects our democracy as being on sound footing. It is not without its challenges, but advancements have been made and there is a plethora of lessons to pick for the future. I am excited about this because for the umpteenth time, our democracy gets to prove its resilience. We have had our eyes on the judiciary — without screaming it out as an intimidation tactic. It was beautiful to watch Nigerians lend their ears and time to the judges as they delivered judgment over several hours. They were never going to reach conclusions that’d have met everyone’s expectations, but they did reach conclusions that were backed by the laws of the land and in the Abuja 25 percent matter, law and universal logic.

There was always going to be a winner and there’d be those who’d have to try again. Like the election itself, it is not a competition for the loudest noise makers. The judges proved that. You make your argument, present your valid witnesses and tender your evidence. In essence, we trusted the judiciary to do its job and with the judgments announced, they did.

Calm heads must prevail. We must be amongst those calling for all the parties to stick to the constitutional order. By all means, don’t get sucked into breaking public order and avoid prodding anyone to take such a step. We cannot afford to get sucked into the desperate games of chaos entrepreneurs who have mastered the art of profiting from our differences and violence. Only a few people profit from these desperate shows. Those who mean well for our country must continue to defend constitutional order and the rule of law. If we jettison the rule of law, there is no chance of a country.

Every candidate who participated in the elections automatically signed up to play by the rules of the constitution and electoral law. They all appeared to do so. Those who would destroy public properties and foment trouble must reflect deeply. Note that the children of those you are fighting for or looking to fight for will not be anywhere near these lawless moves. Be wise. It is an election. The tribunal ruling is an essential part of the process. We have trusted the judges to hear all the cases. It is now time to live and abide with their judgments. The judges have endured intimidation over the months, it is now time for everyone to live with the consequences of their judgments. The arguments have been heard, the evidences have been tendered and the judgments have been delivered.

The matter advances to the Supreme Court. Note that new arguments, witnesses or evidence will not be presented to the apex court. The court’s ruling will be based on all the presentations already made and the judgment already delivered. Theirs will be to look at the gaps in the process so far, if any. And where such exist, to determine whether there is enough to reverse the PEPT. In the absence of any gap or gaps substantial enough for such a reverse, to uphold the judgment of the PEPT. However this ends, you can bank on something; in 100 years of voting, the vote of each Nigerian remains equal to one another. It won’t matter whether the vote is cast in Abuja or cast in Igbokoda. Victory for common sense.

 Omojuwa is chief strategist, Alpha Reach/author, Digital Wealth Book