The Labour Party (LP) has warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quit threatening the judiciary, claiming that removing him from office by the courts will not lead to anarchy in the country.
According to news reports, Tinubu cautioned about the probable ramifications of annulling the election that elected him president.
He warned that a judgment based on his failure to secure 25% of the legitimate votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) might lead to absurdity, disorder, anarchy, and a distortion of the legislature’s original meaning.
The president mentioned this while delivering his final written speech to the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPEC) on petitions brought by LP contestants Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar challenging the presidential election.
The Labour Party advised Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to be cautious in their approach to the case, which is currently in court, in a statement issued on Monday by its national press secretary, Obiora Ifoh.
The party said that no amount of pressure on the tribunal’s judges could affect the processes and requirements established under the law.
The statement said: “We are worried that the statement which formed part of his submissions and was contained in his final written address against the Labour Party’s petition pending at the PEPEC, and meant to be in the exclusive custody of the court was leaked to the media.
“We still do not know the reason behind this act of desperation, even when the matter is still pending in court. We will however be careful not to term the action as sub-judice.
“Having said that, the Labour Party thinks that the statement was unnecessary since the matter is already before the court, and going ahead to pontificate on it could be construed as interference in the duties and responsibilities of the judiciary.
“The truth of the matter is that there are no sentiments when it comes to matters of law. The law is the law and once the law has stipulated the manner and how a matter must be carried out, it must follow that pattern.
“If the law has stated the requirement that a presidential candidate must meet before he can be declared, there is no shortcut to it.
“Therefore, if the constitution which is the ground norm of the law in Nigeria has stated clearly that you must score at least 25 percent in FCT before the president can be declared, anything short of that can not remedy it.
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“We insist that no amount of threat from the APC on the judges in the tribunal can change the processes and requirements that the law has put in place. It must be followed and that is the position of the Labour Party.
“Let me assure the APC and their leaders that if there were no absurdity, chaos, and anarchy when they forced their way into power, Nigeria will still witness peace when they are eventually evicted from power.”
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