PEPT judgment, shows judiciary independence, deepens democracy – Aremu


The judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the 2019 presidential election was manifestation of an independent and impartial judiciary, and is bound to deepen Nigerian democracy, the Organised labour has said. 


General Secretary of Textile workers union and NEC member of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Issa Aremu, said on Thursday in Kaduna that critical key decisions of the five- person panel in Abuja showed that Nigeria’s judiciary has come of age in objectivity, rigour and impartiality. 


He said, “The decisions that President Muhammadu Buhari eminently qualified to contest the Feb. 23, 2019 presidential election and that the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is a citizen of Nigeria not a Cameronian, are significantly balanced, sensible for ordinary Nigerian voters.
“The judgement, was a wake up call for all Nigerian stakeholders in electoral process to ensure credible elections devoid of petitions which are increasingly getting petty. 


“Nigeria elections are currently unacceptably conflictual, personal not policy driven, Nigeria needs complementary and cooperative politics to ensure, growth and development as well as eradicate poverty.”
Comrade Aremu, who was also the Labour Party candidate in Kwara 2019 gubernatorial elections, called on all political parties “to partner with INEC in a post election assessment that would make voting and vote counting the sole responsibility of INEC and INEC alone and not the courts, which are already burdened with inconclusive humongous civil cases.”


The labour leader urged the political class “to see election as the means, the end is good governance which still eludes Nigeria”. He called for an urgent implementation of all the outstanding recommendations of the 2014 National Conference with respect to electoral reform. 
Comrade Aremu urged the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party to accept the offer of partnership by President Buhari on the tasks of national building .


Aremu observed that though Alhaji Atiku had the right of appeal to the Supreme Court, it would be an exercise in waste of time and scarce resources as it was in the previous presidential elections petitions and litigations
He hailed former President Goodluck Jonathan for setting the standard in statesmanship by accepting the outcome of 2015 Presidential elections as declared by INEC. 

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