Presidential election tribunal judgment tomorrow not final – Femi Falana

Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has stated that the judiciary is being subjected to unprecedented blackmail and intimation regarding the presidential election petitions, arguing that there is still time for an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Falana, who appeared yesterday as a guest on Channels Television, claimed that no election petition in the country has received so much media attention since colonial times.

Even though election petitions have been filed since the colonial era, never before has the judiciary been threatened or blackmailed on such a scale.

I’m concerned that once the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal issues its ruling, that will be the end of it. If either side loses on Wednesday, they can still ask the Supreme Court to review their case. Where does this petty blackmail come from, exactly? the seasoned attorney probed.

The senior advocate put the blame on new voters, saying that they think their candidate must be declared the winner, even though this is not the purpose of election tribunals.

He argued that the justices should examine the arguments presented by both sides, apply the law, and issue a ruling.

A wise man once said, “Even if the heavens fall and they don’t fall anyway, the judges must not be intimidated; they must give their decision regardless of blackmail or intimidations, convinced that they can justify their judgement.

That’s their job, to weigh the evidence, apply the law, and come to a conclusion. Some people will win and some will lose, but “those who lose and are aggrieved will have another opportunity to approach the Supreme Court and demonstrate how the Court of Appeal erred,” Falana said.

The Court of Appeal yesterday announced that it will rule on petitions challenging the results of the presidential election on Wednesday, and that interested television stations will be allowed to broadcast the proceedings live.

President Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election, but the Labour Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the Allied Peoples Movement all filed petitions with the tribunal asking for his victory to be overturned.