Posted by The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) is troubled by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal’s (PEPT) decision to affirm President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 election.
The petitions submitted by Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, rival Atiku Abubakar were dismissed by the PEPT on Wednesday of last week for lacking in merit, as previously reported by BANKPAWA
Obi and Atiku, who both disagreed with the tribunal’s decision, have decided to appeal to the highest court in the land to settle the dispute.
Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, president of the CBCN, weighed in on the controversy surrounding the ruling, saying that the tribunal’s decision did not live up to the people’s legitimate expectations, moral, or legal standards.
The Second Plenary Assembly of the Conference, scheduled for 2023, opened with the Bishop’s address on Sunday in Abuja.
He said Nigerians’ future still “hangs in the balance” after Obi and Atiku decided to appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court.
He hoped that the Supreme Court would rule in a way that was impartial toward all parties involved.
With this lawsuit proceeding to the next phase, the future of democracy in our country remains precarious.
We ask and hope that the Supreme Court justices would not compromise the law to cater to the preferences of any of the litigants.
“We also pray and hope for a day in our nation when all election results are finally decided at the polling units and not in the court,” he continued.