PEPT: Why I didn’t challenge Tinubu in court – Sowore spills

Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections, has explained why he chose not to file a legal challenge against President Bill Tinubu’s election victory like other opposition parties did.

He stated that he did not believe that justice would have been served if he had done so, adding that he had no faith in the tribunal because it had never previously rendered justice in election-related matters.

Asked why Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, the presidential candidates for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, would believe their case would be exceptional, Sowore responded that the courts in Nigeria had never annulled an election in the nation while fielding questions on Arise News.
His response came in response to the presidential election petition tribunal’s decision on Wednesday. President Bole Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election on February 25 had been upheld by the tribunal.

Recall that Obi and Atiku both contested Tinubu’s victory in court along with their respective parties. But yesterday, the tribunal invalidated their claims while confirming Tinubu’s victory.
Sowore responded, “What you’re saying about the Labour Party and the PDP is what people like us have always said—that they’re the same.

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We don’t belong to that coalition or alliance. In addition, when someone steals your property and you try to recover it from him but he refuses, go to court. You need to wait until the court starts.

But I’m not likely to go to the same court when I’m cheated on this scale because it gave you a governor who finished fourth in Imo state. I can’t tell you that I have implicit or explicit confidence in the court because it hasn’t done justice for people like me since I was born in this nation.

“If you go to court, you can almost predict what would happen there.”

Further information revealed that the AAC candidate noted that opposition parties are frequently persuaded to file lawsuits in an effort to pacify Nigerians.
“In Nigeria, a presidential election has never been declared invalid by the courts,” he continued. Even in 2007, when there were no serial numbers on the ballots, the court ruled that you don’t need them, and Yar’Adua, the candidate for whom the election was rigged by President Olusegun Obasanjo, publicly declared that this election was problematic. Regardless, he took the booty.

So, in my opinion, we shouldn’t go to a court that might not be able to or hasn’t rendered justice in cases like ours in the past.

To calm Nigerians’ nerves and get them to accept this nonsense as a fait accompli, I believe the reason they are asking these people to appear in court.Furthermore, they made sure there were no street uprisings to reclaim the stolen mandate from any rigged elections they held.

“Because they are aware of the outcome, they direct you to the courtroom for that reason. We also understand how these courts are chosen by the ruling political parties. We cannot therefore be here deceiving ourselves.