By Kolawole Kayode
President Bola Tinubu has said the alleged attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to blackmail the judiciary will fail.
Tinubu said Atiku’s latest comment has shown that he was yet to recover from the shock defeat of the 2023 presidential election. He charged Atiku to provide evidence of his administration trying to undermine the judiciary.
In a statement by his spokesman, Dele Alake, the president said Atiku’s claims were full of innuendos, insinuations and outright lies.
According to Alake: “We have read the laughable and jejune statement by former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate in the last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“It is obvious that having been thoroughly defeated by the All Progressives Congress and now President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former Vice President has not fully recovered from the shock of defeat, hence the current attempt to mischievously rake up another round of inanities that offend basic logic and rational thinking.
“In the ill-thought out and illogical statement, Alhaji Atiku accused the current administration of the governing APC of plotting to undermine the judiciary without providing any shred of evidence. Apart from innuendos, insinuations and outright lies contained in the said press statement, the former Vice President Atiku didn’t put forward any convincing argument to support his claims on how the President Tinubu-led administration and APC sought to undercut, undermine and compromise the judiciary.
“If the former Vice President believes in democracy and the sanctity of the Judiciary, as claimed, he would not engage in making spurious and wild allegations aimed at disparaging and discrediting an important arm of government that should serve as the bulwark for our democracy.
“He shamelessly resorted to this cheap attempt to intimidate and blackmail the Judiciary even when he is party to a case before the Presidential Election Petition Court.
“Let it be said that when it comes to matters of fighting for democracy and democratic ideals, rule of law and independence of Judiciary in Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu stands shoulder above Atiku Abubakar.
When President Tinubu was leading the charge against the emasculation of the judiciary and promoting the sanctity of rule of law as the building block for good governance as Governor of Lagos State between 1999-2007, under a PDP central government, Alhaji Atiku was nowhere to be found.
“It is on record and to his eternal credit that President Tinubu, through the instrumentality of the law and Judiciary, successfully challenged many of the draconian and obnoxious decisions of the PDP-led Federal Government that trampled on the rights of the States as federating units. Lagos State under the leadership of the then Governor Tinubu won over 13 cases up to the Supreme Court against the hydra-headed PDP administration at the centre.”
The statement maintained that Tinubu can never undermine the judiciary because he won the last election.
“No leader with such a sterling and enviable credential as a champion of rule of law, independence of judiciary like President Tinubu will ever contemplate undermining the Judiciary as alleged by Alhaji Atiku.
“President Tinubu won a free, fair and credible election. The February 25, 2023 Presidential election that produced him is the most transparent election ever conducted in Nigeria since 1999.
“President Tinubu and the APC absolutely have no reason to undermine the judiciary in the hope of any favourable judgement,” he added.