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PDP leaders
celebrate Saraki’s victory
From Ali Muhammad
Rabiu, Ilorin
Leadres and Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara
State have continued to celebrate the validation of the election of
governor Bukola Saraki by the Kwara Governorship and National
Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, while the opposition
Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and Accord Party (AP) have described
the tribunal as “helpless and pressurised” to deliver its verdict.
Candidates of the two parties, Mr. Gbenga Olawepo and Chief
Theophilus Bamigboye said they were ready to fight to the last and
end what they described as years of injustice in the North central
state. Bamigboye, a former military administrator of both Osun and
Bauchi states, said he was ready to pursue the matter, even with his
blood while Olawepo said his team was convinced it would not get
justice at the tribunal but continued with them to explore
opportunities for appeal.
Both opposition political parties issued detailed statements on the
judgment alleging that that the election was fraught with
corruption, violence, and malpractices and even allegedly excluded
the AP candidate by omitting his photograph on the ballot paper in
contravention of the provisions of the 2006 electoral Act.
Bamigboye said: “You must have received with shock and amazement
the biased judgment of the tribunal on our petition against the
flawed election of Dr. Bukola Saraki on April 14, 2007. I was
equally amazed, even though we knew they might not give us justice,
given the avalanche of facts that we have painstakingly assembled
and legally placed before the panel, we also thought that they would
have allowed justice and the rule of law to persuade them and reach
a just decision.”
“The tribunal members were helpless, we got what they were
pressurized to deliver. They deliberately avoided areas of strong
issues of facts and figure, just as INEC and PDP refused to call
their witnesses after they discovered the water had dried upon the
fish, the tribunal members decided to be silent on various glaring
and strong fraud committed by INEC/PDP. But we will expose them;
they cannot escape.
“Was I surprised that they reached their verdict of anointing Saraki?
Not at all. That was their judgment. That was the judgment of man.
Now let us wait patiently for the judgment of God through the
process of appeal as we have good grounds for our case before the
higher court. The battle is not ours but of God. Kwarans must be
liberated. I am just your point-man. I am fully prepared, even with
my blood to lead you to the promised land, he said”
On his part, Olawepo said: “At last the much-awaited perversion of
justice and its total miscarriage has been delivered by the Ilorin
based Kwara governorship and National Assembly Election Petition
Tribunal.
“The indications that petitioners will not get justice from the
tribunal had long been evident, these consists of numerous
absurdities such as obvious bias in the open court against
petitioners in favour of incumbents and election riggers, the
varying of earlier orders given in courts and the falsification of
cited cases in order to justify pre-determined rulings.
“The multiple attempts by the members of the tribunal to frustrate
our case have been subject of several petitions to the National
Judicial Commission (NJC) early in the life of the tribunal.
“Indeed our counsels boycotted court twice based on the obvious
display of hostility by the members of the tribunal during the cross
examination of the defendant’s witnesses by our lawyers,” he said.
He further said, “We continued the case diligently despite palpable
reality that the tribunal was tainted, in order to take advantage of
remedies at the appellate levels. We are convinced of the truth of
our case and the diligence of our pursuit and we shall accordingly
proceed to the court of appeal to seek justice.”
“The struggle in Kwara is not merely to seize office but the
crescendo of a two-decade-old struggle of our people to overcome
political oppression and slavery. It is the height of Kwarans’ quest
for freedom and liberty.
“We are convinced that this perfidious denial of justice by the
Ilorin tribunal cannot stand higher judicial scrutiny. Our
confidence in the ability of the Nigerian judicial system to deliver
justice remains unshaken despite occasional depressing outcomes such
as witnessed in the Kwara and Osun tribunals, Olamepo said.
He said the path to freedom is usually a long torturous one but at
the end, it delivers happiness, though the mill of justice may grind
slowly, it will surely grind.
“We remain resolute in our faith that this miscarriage of justice
shall not stand. The celebration by election riggers shall not
endure!” he said.
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