By Collins Nnabuife
Following the pieces of evidence tendered at the Presidential Election Tribunal against the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by various witnesses, the Director General of Good Governance Institute (GGI) and one of the Leaders of the Obidient Movement, Mr Marcel Ngogbehei has asked the court to declare Peter Obi the winner of the 2023 Presidential Election outrightly and safe the country another round of spending and agony.
Ngogbehei, who is also a Sloan Fellow of Strategy and Leadership Management at the London Business School (LBS), made this known in a statement issued yesterday in London.
Ngogbehei said after careful consideration of the proceedings of the Presidential Election tribunal in Abuja and without pre-empting judgement, he expects the courts to help the country move on by ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), and issue a fresh one to Peter Obi – after a careful recompilation of all the results of the 2023 elections from Polling Units all the way up.
“The courts have the powers to recompute the election results as was done in Imo State and declare a rightful winner,” Ngogbehei said.
He said that at this moment in Nigeria’s history, with the advancement in digital technology and the technical ability to store digital records of events for decades, what happened on February 25th, 2023, in Nigeria cannot be wiped away in History and that the entire world is following the court proceedings in Nigeria, gathering a retinue of digital evidence that will last decades; the courts cannot afford to put itself in a difficult situation in history.
“All the evidence is clear, and the European Union Election report has come out clearly to corroborate what we all know transpired in Nigeria. There’s now no hiding place for the little goldfish; the courts should do the right thing and declare Peter Obi the winner.
“It is the people that determine who lead them, not a few individuals, and the people has made a bold statement on the February 25th Elections; what we are saying is that the people’s vote must count, we must protect the right of the people to choose their leaders, and also send a strong message to those who think the only way to political leadership is by unleashing violence and manipulating the system.
“Nigeria will come out stronger and on the path of greatness if the Nigerian courts take the bold step. The International community has a system in place to protect those who defend democracy across the world.
“Billions of Nigerian Taxpayer’s money and other International Organisation funds were committed to the Nigerian 2023 Elections, and we cannot afford to waste another billion chasing shadows; while the country is seriously suffering from infrastructure deficit – declare Peter Obi the winner outrightly and let’s move on”, he stated.
Ngogbehei said the International Community, through the EU report, has made a bold statement, and we cannot wish that away, rather, we must begin to hold the INEC account.
