Supreme Court Verdict: Nigerians react to President Tinubu’s election victory

On Oct 26, 2023

Reactions have continued to trail the Supreme Court verdict which upheld the election of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the February 25 presidential elections.

It would be recalled that presidential election petitions were filed by the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party, challenging the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court.

Voice of Nigeria’s State House Correspondent, Temitope Mustapha, collates responses from the Members of the National Assembly, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Governors who visited the President to congratulate him on his victory.

The Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas responded with gratitude, saying, “To God be the glory.”

He explained that the judgment was not unexpected but was anticipated adding that it was time to get to work in advancing good governance in Nigeria, “There are no excuses and it’s time to get back to work.”

The Speaker emphasized the need to reset the agenda for Nigeria and focus on what can be achieved for the people of Nigeria in the next four years.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, enjoined opposition parties that challenged President Tinubu’s victory in court to see the Supreme Court affirmation on Thursday as victory for everyone, including them.

The Senator called on the opposition to regard the development as a case of“No victor, no vanquished”.

“My message to the opposition is they should take this victory as a victory for all of us, including them, because what it is. There is no victor and no vanquished.

“Since the Supreme Court has decided and is the highest echelon of judiciary in this country and they have decided, though one of them (defeated candidate) said he’s appealing to God, we are all appealing to them to go for the right direction, where prosperity and hope will be renewed for all of us”, he said.

He stressed that those who were not able to take the defeat decided to go to the court, which is constitutional, and“What they did is the right thing.

“Everything has been exhausted now, and the Supreme Court clearly made it clear that the winner has emerged, and that the winner and president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the person of His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is going to be the president of this country until 2027.

“After 2027 there will be another election. And if he wins again, he’s going to be the president of Nigeria. So what his opponents did by going to the court is the right thing, and for the peace and stability of this country, all the judicial issue has been exhausted now, and it is now time for governance.

“I believe that with the Renewed Hope Agenda, eight cardinal point of Mr. President, this country has seen a renewed hope. And I believe that even in my position as chairman, Finance Committee, I have seen some of the policies of this government, which of course, we have been expecting that a bold leader should do, and that is what the president has done.”

The Secretary to the Governmnet of the Federation, George Akume said the apex court verdict is a revalidation of the mandate which the Nigerian people gave President Tinubu.

Akume added that Nigeria’s electoral process also involves the judicial process.

According to him, “The people spoke loud and clear and some people were aggrieved for wrong reasons they went to the court to the judiciary. The highest court, the supreme court has spoken loud and clear that the mandate was freely given. That is what we want in this country.

“We want stability, we don’t want distraction, the President has taken off beautifully and he has the interest of the people at heart. So far the choices he’s making are tough but at the end of the day, they will make for a better tomorrow so we are very happy about what has happened today, Nigerians are celebrating” The SGF added.

The Lagos State Governor says Thursday’s Supreme Court judgement that affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s victory is historic and demonstrates the beauty of democracy.

“it is a beauty of the power of inclusiveness in governance where everybody would have an opportunity to express themselves at the highest level.

“And as a people that is run and governed by a constitution, we all need to abide by this constitution. The highest judicial body in our country has expressed itself very clearly, there were no dissenting voices. Seven of them (Justices) were on the same page.

“That tells us that whatever might have been the differences let us put it behind us, it is a victory for all. I am sure the President must have alluded to that, what we need to now have is clear governance.”

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, in his reaction, said congratulations were in order for all Nigerians, the electoral umpire and even the opposition parties.

His words: “Let me use this opportunity to congratulate Mr President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but more importantly, let me congratulate all Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora. At the same time I congratulate even the opposition political parties.

“This decision of today of the erudite jurists has further enriched our jurisprudence and it is crystal clear to all Nigerians that our President won this election free and fair.

“I also congratulate INEC for a job well done, it couldn’t have been better than this at this time, even though there are areas of improvement. But I congratulate them for taking their time painstakingly to do a good job that has been affirmed today by the highest court in the land.

“I congratulate all of us and like I admonished earlier, the opposition should just sheath their sword, and support the government of the day.

“If Mr President succeeds, it is Nigerians that succeed and we are praying and working hard that Mr President should succeed because when a leader succeeds, it touches on all the followers.”

Also hailing the judgement was the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, who was at the Supreme Court for the verdict and thereafter visited the President.

“The Supreme Court, the final court, that is the bastion of hope for the common man, today affirmed the ruling of the Appeal Court and that puts to rest all the shenanigans and all the rumours and all the different stories and speculations in the media.

“I want to thank the almighty God first for this ruling and for further validating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory. I want to thank the judiciary particularly for upholding the rule of law because what they did today was being observed worldwide and it speaks to the fact that in Nigeria we’re guided by the rule of law and that the Supreme Court is a Supreme Court that compares to any Supreme Court anywhere in the world.

“They’ve dispensed with this case, they’ve done so in line with global best practices and there’s no doubt left in anybody’s mind that there’s now a closure.

“Our opponents can now go to sleep or they can now congratulate our President and if they actually did mean well for our country, you aspired to an office with the belief that you can offer the country the representation that it deserves, but it must not be a do-or-die.

“If that opportunity does not present itself for you now and the courts and people have chosen who they want, if you really do mean well for the country, what you need to do is congratulate that person, join hands with that person to ensure that what you want to do is achieved, that the common man gets the best of governance,” he added.