Lagos, July 24, 2023 – The Atiku Diaspora Support Group, rooting for the presidential ambition of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP Candidate in the Feb. 25 Presidential Election says President Bola Tinubu’s administration has increased Nigerians’ pains and sufferings.
The founder of the group, High Chief Franklin Ekechukwu, said in a statement on Monday in Lagos that the group was marveled that in a few days of Tinubu’s government, the groaning of Nigerians could be heard all over the world.
Ekechukwu said: “Tinubu has not done anything but put Nigeria in a more precarious situation.
“The position of the presidency, he (President Tinubu) forcefully imposed himself is one that takes measure before making a policy statement, but in his case, he speaks carelessly to please the gullible Nigerians without first, having the necessary method of implementing the policy in place.
“First, not having the method to implement your policy in place before announcing it, exposes the country to unnecessary chaos.”
He said that the President hastily announced the removal of fuel subsidy “without having the process of implementing the policy.”
“He (President Tinubu) announced it prematurely which is now causing unnecessary hardship to the citizens.
“Another is the quick announcement of school loans which turns out to be a sham, or should we mention his unplanned firing of many board members of agencies, and parastatals without first announcing their replacements.
“The reckless firing of the CBN Governor and deputies is affecting the monetary policy of the country as well as the unchecked announcement of monetary inducement of the NJC, NASS members, and the N8,000 a month to the poor.
“These are mere words that have no proper methods to implement them. These are not even a well thought out policy talkless of not having the method to effectively implement them,” Ekechukwu said.
According to him, the President is supposed to first, carefully put in place the methods to implement any policy he wants to pursue before announcing it to the public.
“That simply means having a policy document first before opening your mouth. Without this step, the government will be exposing the citizens to an unnecessary hardship,” he added.
Ekechukwu noted that Nigerians’ misgivings about the poll would only be assuaged if the judiciary remained independent.
He said that the Atiku Diaspora Support Group remained “very optimistic”, that the outcome of the court would favour Atiku.
Ekechukwu said: “If the judiciary, in this case, the tribunal follows the rule of law, and addresses the case according to the electoral law, and constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the Nigerian people will be satisfied with its judgement.
“It is very clear that a lot of violations of the law were committed. The inability to follow set rules and regulations of the INEC was evident before, during and after the election.
“Setting individual feeling aside, Nigerian people want what the world wants, which is, for the Nigeria judiciary to exert its independence under the law.
“It must follow the rule of law and uphold the constitution of Nigeria no matter whose Ox is gored, if they do that, I believe that the Nigerian people will be satisfied.”
Expressing hope in the about-to-be-pronounced verdict of the tribunal, Ekechukwu said that it would be “very unlikely that the tribunal will rule differently from the desires of the people and against the law”.
The founder added that the tribunal ruling differently would be going against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, “and that will simply mean that the judiciary was compromised. I am hoping that the law takes precedence over individual interests.”
He, however, said that preempting the decision of the judiciary would be premature, adding that the disqualification of the other candidates would automatically make the PDP’s Atiku the President.
According to him, going by the case before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal l, APC candidate, President Bola Tinunu had too much baggage against him for the court to adjudicate.
He listed such baggage to include forgery of the documents, falsification of information, double nomination, manipulation of election results and others.
“From the APM suit, we just learned that the fourteen-day time frame, allowed by the constitution, and by law to replace a candidate after Masari resigned elapsed before Shettima was nominated making him an invalid candidate and so on and so forth,” he said.
On the other hand, Ekechukwu said that the Labour Party (LP) Presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, had only one count of double nomination, and not being a member of the party or invalid candidacy against him brought by the APC candidate.
He reiterated: “Now if the judiciary maintains its independence and upholds the law, which I believe it will, anything short of disqualification will be a miscarriage of justice and the end of democracy in Nigeria.
“My confidence rises from the belief that the judiciary will uphold the law, I understand that Nigerians have lost hope in the judiciary, but I feel this is a unique but rare opportunity for the judiciary to take back the position as the last authority in the democratic system.”
Ekechukwu said that the EU and other Observer groups’ reports on the Presidential Election were the final indication that INEC supposed to be an unbiased umpire, was compromised.
According to him, the observers’ reports further supported Atiku’s claims about the candidate.
“It is sad to say this, it is not that the INEC is unable to conduct a credible election in Nigeria, it is that people allowed themselves to be compromised due to financial gain or reasons best known to them.
“By lacking integrity, INEC broke the law and compromised the election, which by law is pure treason, and very unpatriotic.
“The judiciary should follow the law, and the very important evidence that was presented to the tribunal to arrive at its judgement, which of course includes the observers’ reports, must not be ignored.
“The eye of the world is watching Nigeria, most importantly, the judiciary,” he said.
Ekechukwu said that he did not only see the tribunal nullifying the election but also saw the tribunal disqualifying the necessary candidates.
He said that President Bola Tinubu’s claim that nullifying the election would throw Nigeria into chaos, Ekechukwu described such a position as laughable.
