Presidential Polls: Nigerians Need Justice, Not Technicalities – Timi Frank Tells PEPT

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has challenged the members of the panel of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) not to succumb to blackmail or intimidation but justice.

Frank also urged the Justices at the Presidential Election Tribunal to in the interest of fairness and equity, give justice to Nigerians and not technicalities against the backdrop that the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar won the February 25, 2023 election.

Timi Frank, who is the Ambassador of the United Liberation Movement for West PAPAU (ULMWP), to the East Africa and Middle East, urged the justices of the Appeal Court to borrow a leaf from their counterparts in Kenya who recently saved their country from catastrophe through their courageous verdict, adding that they must not succumb to any form of blackmail or intimidation.

He also said that the justices of the Court of Appeal owe it to themselves, Nigerians and God to declare Atiku the rightful winner of the 2023 presidential election.

Frank particularly said that Nigeria cannot afford to go back to the era of impunity when the Nigeria Governors’ Forum conducted an election and declared a man who won 15 votes as winner as against the one that got 19 votes.

The activist, who stated these in a statement while reacting to the response by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to the joint petition at the Tribunal by the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his party that he reportedly won 21 States of the federation in the February 25 election, urged the Justices of the Appeal Court to use the opportunity afforded by the revelation by INEC that Atiku won to redeem the lost image of the judiciary.

Frank explained that since INEC on its own accord voluntarily admitted on record that Atiku won 21 states instead of the 12 states it earlier credited to him, the PEPT needed not look further but, to declare Atiku as the winner of the presidential election.

The 21 states reportedly listed by INEC as having been won by Atiku and PDP were Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

Frank noted that INEC’s revelation of the 21 states won by Atiku clearly showed that the PDP presidential candidate’s results were swapped with that of Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make him win, albeit fraudulently.

According to Frank; “We know the justices of the Appeal Court hearing the petition challenging the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner of the presidential election are under tremendous pressure coupled with vile threats and intimidation to maintain an illegal status quo, but they must not succumb because the pressure of God that will be on them should they neglect this material fact would be more than the pressure from men.

“It must never be said that the man who won the least number of states and votes became President as against the man who won majority of states and votes,” he said.

He therefore urged the justices to remain courageous in doing substantial justice in the present case, despite the high-wired pressures and intimidations against them.

Frank further said; “Now that that the tribunal’s justices have heard arguments from all the parties in the suits, they should know that Nigerians are looking forward to them to do substantial justice and not ruling based on technicalities”.

He reminded the justices that whatever judgment they give at the end of the day will remain as precedent in future thus, implored them not to hand down a precedent where clear acts of criminality as witnessed during the Presidential Election will now be the law and order of the day in Nigeria.

He further said; “We strongly hold that this is not time to rule based on technicalities or to throw out well-reasoned, germane, valid and powerful submissions by the opposition parties.

“We want to remind you that this is one case where the world is waiting for the outcome and besides, the case presents the Nigerian judiciary an ample opportunity to write its name in gold in the heart of Nigerians and to prominently emplace Nigeria in the map of countries that believe and uphold the principles of fairness, equity and justice,” Frank stressed.