Wednesday, October 30, marked a final seal on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s, PDP’s presidential candidate’s eight-month legal challenge of the February 23 Nigerian Presidential election result, at which the incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari of the All Peoples Congress (APC) was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This followed the dismissal of the appeal against the court’s former ruling in favour of President Buhari by Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the Supreme Court.
As is usual in such legal contests or any contest for that matter, the victorious party sees every reason to roll out the drums of celebration, just as it is customary for the losers to experience some level of melancholy. Which is exactly what has been playing out between the winners and losers to various degrees.
Occasions such as this pose a test of sportsmanship on the part of the losers, be it in sports, politics or any other contested issue. And all eyes have been on Atiku, and to a less extent, his party, on their reaction to their loss, and how it measures up to a pass or failure of the sense of sportsmanship and the proverbial politics without bitterness.
An assessment of Atiku’s reaction to his loss, as gauged by his utterances, it may be safe to credit him with an above average pass of the spirit of sportsmanship by admitting the finality of the Supreme Court’s verdict on his appeal, but certainly not a full pass mark, given his widely reported statement of rejecting the Supreme Court ruling, even when he has no other room for legal recourse on the ruling. To get a full mark of sportsmanship, Atiku should have accepted the court verdict in the first place, even if he has to express reservations about it, just as he did.
Howbeit, Atiku Abubakar has to be commended for his faith in the judiciary and his stoic pursuit of what he considers the rule of law as demonstrated in his legal battle from the election tribunal, through the Election Appeal Court to the Supreme Court, without, at any stage of failure, resorting to actions or utterances that would undermine the same rule of law, as did some politicians in similar circumstances in the past. To this extent, Atiku’s demeanor is a shining example to Nigerian politicians who find themselves in similar positions in their bid to get perceived electoral justice through the court.
Some of Atiku’s utterances are particularly inspiring as a model of patriotism and democratic temper and a commendable affirmation of his political integrity. Some of these utterances include his observation and admission that the Supreme Court is not final because it is infallible, but that it is infallible because it is final, and while he believes that only God is infallible everywhere, and only Nigerians are infallible in our democracy, he must accept that the judicial route he chose to take, as a democrat, has come to a conclusion. And when he asserts that he has fought a good fight and will not relent for Nigeria and democracy.
We completely concur with Atiku Abubakar that the Supreme Court is not infallible, but that it is infallible because it is final, which translates to the fact that the nation’s electoral and judicial processes are still far from perfect, and that there is urgent need for more reforms in both cases to reflect the nation’s claim to democracy. We also agree with Atiku that a true democracy should constitute a strong judiciary, a free press and an impartial electoral umpire.
Perhaps, the most beautiful of Atiku’s utterances in connection with his legal loss is recaptured thus:
“To those who think they have broken my spirit, I am sorry to disappoint you.
“I am too focused on Nigeria to think about myself. I gave up that luxury twenty years ago. The question is not if I am broken. The question is if Nigeria is whole?
“This is not a time for too many words. It will suffice for me to remind Nigeria of this we are an independent nation and we are the architects of our fate. If we do not build a free Nigeria, we may end up destroying her, and God forbid that that should be the case.”
To this we add: Amen and Amen!
THE ECHO 