Supreme Court Verdict: Obi Not Hiding – Labour Party Says
The Labour Party (LP), on Saturday, October 28, 2023 came out stoutly in defence of its 2023 Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi over rumours that he has gone into hiding following the judgement of the Supreme Court that authenticated the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
Speaking on the rumours, the spokesman of the LP campaign organisation, Mr. Yunusa Tanko, said that there was no way the former Governor of Anambra State would go underground over the judgement of the Supreme Court.
Tanko specifically said that unknown to many, Obi travelled out of the country long before the Supreme Court gave notice of its judgement day.
The apex court on Thursday, October 26, 2023 ended the 171-day legal tussle aimed at nullifying the election of President Tinubu as both Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar appealed against the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that upheld the election of President Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Supreme Court in its lead judgment delivered by the Chairman of the seven-man panel, Justice Inyang Okoro, refused to consider and admit the academic records of the President obtained from the Chicago State University, which Atiku sought to tender as fresh evidence to prove his allegation of certificate forgery against Tinubu.
The other members of the panel namely Justices Uwani Aji, Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani, and Emmanuel Agim, concurred with the lead judgment that dismissed Atiku and Obi’s appeals.
However, following the hues and cries that trailed the judgement of the Supreme Court by the leadership and supporters of the LP, many Nigerians expected Obi to react to the judgment but, he maintained a studied silence.
The unexpected silence of Obi more than 24hours after the verdict of the Supreme Court, speculations among social media users ranted the air that Mr. Obi may have gone into hiding as a result of his hurting from the apex court verdict.
