‘Nigeria’s legislature, judiciary hijacked by ruling class,’ LP reacts to Supreme Court verdict on Tinubu’s election

The Labour Party has expressed disappointment at the Supreme Court verdict which upheld President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 election.

A seven-member panel of the apex court led by Justice John Okoro had earlier on Thursday dismissed the appeals filed by the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, for lack of merit.

The panel ruled against the appellants on all the appeals raised on the election.

The LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, who addressed journalists at a media briefing shortly after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict, lamented that the legislative and judicial arms of government have been hijacked by the ruling class.

He said the party was disappointed at the ruling but has moved on and remains optimistic about what the future holds for the country.

READ ALSO:Gbajabiamila, Ribadu, Abure storm Supreme Court as Nigerians await ruling on Atiku, Obi petitions (Photos)

Abure said: “We are indeed very shocked and surprised that even the apex court will toe the line of an earlier judgement despite all the flaws associated with the judgement delivered by the presidential election petition tribunal.

“Having conclusively exercised our fundamental rights as gifted to us by the laws of the land, we have no other choice but to move on. We may be disappointed and dismayed by the outcome of the exercise but we have chosen to trudge on and to remain optimistic of what the future holds for the nation.

“We weep for our institutions that cannot rise to the occasion and courageously defend democracy and the voices of our people.

“However, there are great lessons to be learnt. What transpired in Nigeria since the February 25 presidential election is a clear testament that our institutions are not working and that we may be sliding towards dictatorship.

“It is very clear that the executive has hijacked both the judiciary and the legislature. This is so unfortunate for our democracy and it is even more for the people of Nigeria.

“All that our forebearers taught us has been destroyed within a short space of time because of the unbridled ambition of a few. The founding fathers fought with their lives to achieve independence for the country.

“People lost their lives in the struggle to keep our democracy and all these years people have been struggling to achieve electoral and constitutional reforms. Regrettably, all of these efforts and struggles have been destroyed today.”

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