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Former Vice President Atiku and President Tinubu contested in the February 25 presidential election.
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While the president maintains that he won a free and fair election, his opponent disagrees.
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Atiku and his party are currently challenging the outcome of the presidential poll in court.
Eko Hot Blog reports that President Bola Tinubu has slammed Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of engaging in a campaign to undermine the judiciary.
Atiku, who lost the February 25 presidential election to Tinubu, is at the election petition tribunal where he is challenging the result of the election.
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Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku who had the second-highest figure of 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 6,101,533 votes.
In a statement on Saturday, the former vice president alleged that the president and the APC are trying to undermine the legal process by intimidating the judiciary.
The PDP candidate added that the APC and agents of Tinubu have “ceaselessly chosen to stand in the way of justice by making “catastrophic threats to anarchy if justice is not served according to their whims.”
However, the president refuted the allegations in a statement issued by Dele Alake, his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications & Strategy, Saturday night.
Tinubu stated that Atiku is making “mischievous” allegations because he is yet to fully recover from the “shock of defeat.”
According to the presidential spokesperson, the president is a democrat who believes in the rule of law and will not undermine the judiciary.
He maintained that his principal’s election was free and fair.
“We have read the laughable and jejune statement by former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Candidate in the last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,” Alake said.
“It is obvious that having been thoroughly defeated by the All Progressives Congress and now President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former Vice President has not fully recovered from the shock of defeat, hence the current attempt to mischievously rake up another round of inanities that offend basic logic and rational thinking.
“In the ill-thought out and illogical statement, Alhaji Atiku accused the current administration of the governing APC of plotting to undermine the judiciary without providing any shred of evidence. Apart from innuendos, insinuations and outright lies contained in the said press statement, the former Vice President Atiku didn’t put forward any convincing argument to support his claims on how the President Tinubu-led administration and APC sought to undercut, undermine and compromise the judiciary.
“If the former Vice President believes in democracy and the sanctity of the Judiciary, as claimed, he would not engage in making spurious and wild allegations aimed at disparaging and discrediting an important arm of government that should serve as the bulwark for our democracy.
“He shamelessly resorted to this cheap attempt to intimidate and blackmail the Judiciary even when he is party to a case before the Presidential Election Tribunal.
“Let it be said that when it comes to matters of fighting for democracy and democratic ideals, rule of law and independence of Judiciary in Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu stands shoulder above Atiku Abubakar.
“When President Tinubu was leading the charge against the emasculation of the judiciary and promoting the sanctity of rule of law as the building block for good governance as Governor of Lagos State between 1999-2007, under a PDP central government, Alhaji Atiku was nowhere to be found.
“It is on record and to his eternal credit that President Tinubu, through the instrumentality of the law and Judiciary, successfully challenged many of the draconian and obnoxious decisions of the PDP-led Federal Government that trampled on the rights of the states as federating units. Lagos State under the leadership of the then Governor Tinubu won over 13 cases up to the Supreme Court against the hydra-headed PDP administration at the centre.
“No leader with such a sterling and enviable credential as a champion of rule of law, independence of judiciary like President Tinubu will ever contemplate undermining the Judiciary as alleged by Alhaji Atiku.
“President Tinubu won a free, fair and credible election. The February 25th, 2023 Presidential election that produced him is the most transparent election ever conducted in Nigeria since 1999.
“President Tinubu and the APC absolutely have no reason to undermine the judiciary in the hope of any favourable judgement.
“His lawyers and that of APC have presented very solid defence of the result of the election and we are sure the judiciary will impartially deliver its ruling on the basis of points of law and evidence before it, not based on presumptuous speculations and unfounded accusations.”
The president’s spokesperson called on Atiku to “be honourable enough as a statesman to allow the Judiciary perform its sacred duty without harassment and this resort to self-help.”
“Attempting to discredit an important institution of State for selfish political end is disingenuous, shameful and unbecoming of a former Vice President of Nigeria. This desperation must stop,” the statement added.
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Tinubu and Atiku are former associates.
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