By Shola Abayomi.
The PDP Governors’ Forum has thrown its weight behind the party’s decision to challenge the September 11 ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal at the Supreme Court.
Recall that the tribunal dismissed the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar challenging the election victory of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a unanimous judgment read by Justice Mohammed Garba, the court held that the petitioners failed to prove their case, hence confirmed President Buhari as winner of the election.
The PDP Governors’ Forum, however described the ruling as a “rape of justice” which paints the country’s judiciary with darker colours.
The Forum, in a statement signed and issued to reporters yesterday by its chairman and Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson lamented that the judgement was tainted by countless anomalies, which if not challenged, may become a clog in the wheel of the country’s democracy.
The PDP governors urged the apex court to preserve its integrity, which they claimed was at stake by righting the wrongs of the tribunal.
The statement read, “After painstakingly and prudently understudying the line after line tenets of the judgment, several holes were picked and countless anomalies identified by us.
“We would be doing a greater disservice and moral injustice to our party, our democracy and Nigerians in general if we turn blind eyes, swallow such bile and applaud that rape of justice.
“The judgment, to say the least, has further painted our judiciary with darker colours, only this time around with a never-before-seen blemished coat of tar.
“However, we are hopeful that the Supreme Court will re-write that history by ensuring that such stains and tar are removed from our judicial archives.
“The apex court should know that its integrity is at stake and in order to avoid it been shredded to particles, must employ all known technicalities to save our nation and the future of Nigerians yet unborn from a development that may further make us a perpetual laughing stock amongst the comity of nations. And Nigerians are very hopeful that these wrongs will be righted.
“Without any iota of trepidation, it is most paramount for us to once more restate and reconfirm our undiluted loyalty, deserving support and maximum commitment to our great party and the Atiku-Obi presidential ticket. This is our stand, now and in the future. Posterity would judge us harshly if we did otherwise.”