By Seyifunmi Odunuga
A gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress APC (APC) in Oyo State in the last election, Engineer Oyedele Hakeem Alao, has congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on their resounding victory at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
It would be recalled that the 5-man Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) panel headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani, had ruled that various petitions filed by the former vice president and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; a former governor of Anambra State who was also the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) at the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, as well as that of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), lacked merit.
The Tribunal, then in a unanimous decision, upheld the victory of Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Asiwaju of Irokoland in a statement he signed and made available by his Media Office, described the verdict of the tribunal as an affirmation of the will of over eight million Nigerians who cast their votes for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima, in the February 25 presidential election.
According to him, Nigerians had spoken through the ballots with the party working hard for the victory, noting that the court with the judgment has validated the decision of the citizens who have confidence in President Tinubu and his team to deliver the real dividends of democracy to Nigerians through the ‘Renewed Hope agenda’.
He maintained that the judgment was sound, detailed and comprehensive, stating that the judges displayed unmatched courage in the discharge of their duties without succumbing to intimidation by the opposition who deployed various antics to sway the judgement in their favour.
He said, “I congratulate the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the leadership of the party at the national level, the state and the teeming members of the party across the country, on this well-deserved victory at the Presidential Election Tribunal Court.
“The unanimous judgment by the Justices was an affirmation of the trust Nigerians reposed in President Tinubu when they massively voted for him during the presidential election believing that he would take the country to the next level through the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“I sincerely believe that the judgement is a further testament to the fact that the judiciary is the last hope of the people of this great country of ours.”
