Strong merger needed to defeat APC in 2027 – Ogun PDP spokesman

The ruling was a complete surprise to us considering all the evidence and exhibits that we presented before the court from the tribunal and reviewed by the Appeal Court. The governor shouldn’t have been affirmed as the winner of the election. Just like the third judge said, the election was inconclusive. We rejected the ruling of the court because it was clear that our party won the election, and it should have been declared inconclusive. Having reviewed our document and the details of the judgment by Justice Jane, we are proceeding to the final court of the land. At that level, we believe that justice will be served and will be delivered to us.

The judgment is not in the right direction based on the evidence and exhibits that we presented. Before the tribunal, we engaged a forensic expert who checked all the mutilated ballot papers that were given to us by the Independent National Electoral Commission. You will also recall that even at the tribunal, INEC, being the first defendant, couldn’t defend anything. When the body that is constitutionally saddled with the conduct of the election can’t defend anything, are you not surprised? They could not say anything about what they did. They couldn’t present a single witness. Just like the popular saying that silence means consent; that proves that they knew what they did was wrong. We are very surprised by both the tribunal and the Appeals Court judgments.

The conduct of the 2023 general election has clearly shown that INEC is not only a biased institution; it has increasingly become manifestly compromised. It is not only in the case of Ogun State; it cuts across all states. Look at the just-concluded elections in Kogi and Imo states, where INEC was returning more votes than accreditation. INEC has over time been involved in a notorious compromise, and it is a very big affront to the development of democracy in Nigeria. It has become a big threat to democracy, and it is unfortunate.

Ordinarily, the judiciary should be the last hope of the common man. The fact remains that the case of Ogun State is different from that of Kogi, especially in terms of the strength of what we had before the court in terms of our evidence. For example, at the last appeal, we regained some ground that was ruled against us by the tribunal. As such, we still believe that we can get justice, especially in the face of the judgment that delivered by Honourable Justice Jane. We are hopeful, and we believe that, at the level of the Supreme Court, justice will be served in our favour by the grace of God.

Why do you think there was a disparity between the justices?

The matter was presided over at the Appeal Court by three justices, as is expected. They might have seen the case from a different angle. I feel that was what happened. Either way, we believe we will present everything, and justice will be served at the apex court.

The APC stated that there was no way your party, the PDP, would have won the election, perhaps because of the internal issues your party had before the election. What do you make of that?

I hate to discuss the APC. The APC is the most unserious gang of terrible jesters. It is not in APC’s place to assess the PDP. We buried all our crises several months before the elections. If you were abreast of our activities during the campaigns, you should observe that all our generals led the campaigns. The APC is only crying foul because they knew they didn’t win the election. But it is important to note that Governor Dapo Abiodun does not have any moral right to drink or dance; he should dance less because his victory is temporary, and he cannot sustain it.