Is President Olusegun Obasanjo's proposed National Dialogue the way forward for Nigeria?
...Buhari 'll Appeal, Says Yobe Gov
It's victory for democracy � Ogbeh From Chuks Okocha in Abuja, 12.21.2004
Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Governors Forum, Alhaji Bukka Abba Ibrahim, has said the party's presidential candidate in the 2003 elections, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), will appeal the judgment of the Presidential Election Appeal Tribunal. He also described the three to one verdict of the tribunal as a moral victory for democracy and the ANPP. However, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh, described the judgment as a victory for democracy. He congratulated President Olusegun Obasanjo for a victory well deserved. Buhari whose prayer for the election to be nullified was rejected by the tribunal, said he will address the press today on the judgment. Buhari is expected to make his views on the court verdict known at an international press conference at the party secretariat this morning. Ibrahim told journalists that, "I am glad we have seen the end of this petition in the Court of Appeal. There has been a judgment as everybody knows. It was three judges to one. Obasanjo and his people had three and we had one. There is a moral victory on what has happened. And that is why I am very very happy." "But of course that is not the last leg, we are going for another one and that is the Supreme Court judgment, But at the end of it all, there is a moral victory on what had happened. Three judges were for Obasanjo and one was for justice. There is a moral victory on what has happened, and that is why I am very happy and satisfied about this moral judgment for ANPP and hope for democracy in Nigeria. And if at this level Nigerians will freely come out and say their mind, I don't have anything against these judges. I think moral justice has won and moral victory has been ensured. We will continue with the rest. Insha Allah," he said. Ogbeh in his reaction said, "This is democracy in action, we have heard the ruling by the court. We congratulate our President and our party. And as we said at the beginning, we stand by the verdict and we congratulate the opposition for accepting the verdict." Also speaking on the case, ANPP National Chairman, Chief Don Etiebet, said a meeting of the party would soon be called to determine the next line of action. Etiebet said "if Buhari decides to go on appeal to Supreme Court, the party will support him." In its reaction, Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) said "for now President Obasanjo must live with the heavy moral burden of the electoral magic in Ogun State, which to us is a paradigm of the entire charade called 2003 general elections." The coalition of the opposition political parties in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Maxi Okwu said, "It was clear that a decision on a petition on an election that took place over 20 months ago could not but be otherwise. In this case the deck was totally skewed against the petitioner. The respondent all along continued to enjoy and abuse his incumbency. Justice has been delayed and definitely denied." Mr. Femi Falana, a Lagos-based lawyer, however, said the implication of the Tribunal decision was that the gubernatorial election results in Ogun State were also fraught with irregularities. He said the gubernatorial election could not have been fraud-free when it held simultaneously with the presidential elections while two ballot papers were given to the same set of people to cast votes for the presidential and gubernatorial candidates of their choice.
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