Former Vice President and flag-bearer of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to continue fighting for the good of Nigerians, despite the Supreme Court verdict that affirmed the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 23 election.
He said that his spirit is not broken because he is too focused on Nigeria to think about himself.
His words: “I gave up that luxury twenty years ago. The question is not if I am broken. The question is if Nigeria is whole?”
“One man, one woman, one youth, one vote, should be the only way to make gains in a democracy. And when that is thwarted, the clock starts to tick.” .
Nigeria’s apex court had on Wednesday dismissed the appeal filed by Abubakar and his party against the judgment of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal on September 11.
He said: “Whether justice was done, is left to the Nigerian people to decide. As a democrat, I fought a good fight for the Nigerian people. I will keep on fighting for Nigeria and for democracy, and also for justice.”
Abubakar, who reacted to the verdict on his official Twitter handle, thanked all Nigerians who have stayed on course with him, saying the judgment is part of democratic challenges Nigerians must face as citizens of a democratising nation.
However, he alleged that a perceived dictatorial cabal has undone almost all the democratic progress PDP administrations nurtured for sixteen years before 2015.
He noted that while democracy has rolled back, the economy, society, and judiciary will not be far behind.
According to him: “While I believe that only God is infallible everywhere, and only Nigerians are infallible in our democracy, I must accept that the judicial route I chose to take, as a democrat, has come to a conclusion.”
Abubakar said:“The judgment is part of democratic challenges we must face as a nation. Can Nigeria continue like this?”
“Today, the nail has been put on the coffin and the gains we collectively made since 1999 are evaporating, and a requiem is at hand.”
Quoting Sophocles, he said: “If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: “Thou shalt not ration justice”.
He said Nigeria is an independent nation and the citizens are the architects of their fate.
“I was a democrat, I am a democrat, and I will always continue to be a democrat, May God bless Nigeria,” he said.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, leading six other members of the nation’s apex court’s panel, had delivered a three-sentence judgement which put paid to the legal dispute over the poll.
He had said that reasons for the decision of the court would be made known on a date to be announced, disclosing that he and members of the panel had read all the documents and exhibits filed in the case for two weeks and found the appeal to be lacking in merit.
The judgement which was unanimously consented to by the other six members of the panel came less than an hour after the court took arguments on the appeal.
