Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), on Sunday, weighed in on the outcome of last Wednesday’s judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), with one question – is it right for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to go rogue?
The body which particularly reacted to the position of the PEPC that INEC could not be questioned for choosing the mode of election to adopt wanted to know if the decision meant that the electoral body should not be trusted anymore by Nigerians in matters of election.
To them, now that the matter had left the panel of five Court of Appeal justices headed by Justice Haruna Tsamanni, the ball was now in the court of the Supreme Court to answer the question in the bid to do the final justice to the case.
The body representing the leadership of the Catholic faith in Nigeria, while stressed that Nigeria currently stood on the precipice of uncertainty with the outcome of the judgement, also bewailed the current hardship in the country, worsened by the removal of subsidy on pump price of petrol.
Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, CBCN President, at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Second Plenary Assembly, in Abuja, said the 2023 elections, fell short of people’s legitimate expectations and moral and legal standards.
Underscoring the dismissive approach of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT, towards the petitions filed by aggrieved contestants, he said: “After hearing their petitions, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT, delivered its ruling in a marathon judgement on September 6, 2023.
“The five justices of the Election Petition Tribunal unanimously dismissed the petitions. According to them, they lacked merit. Despite the billions of naira of tax-payers money appropriated for the provision of the BVAS technology as a game-changer in our general elections, the judges in their ruling tried, among other things, to suggest that it was wrong to expect INEC to keep its promise or obey the electoral regulation of transmitting election results electronically in real time from polling units.
“While respecting the views of the judges, two of the petitioners rejected their verdict as lacking in justice and so have decided to head to the Supreme Court to seek justice. As this case moves to the next level, the fate of the country continues to hang in the balance and the future of democracy in our land stands on the edge of a precipice.
“We pray and hope that the Supreme Court judges will neither bend the law nor seek to satisfy the whims and caprices of any party. We also pray and hope for a day in our nation when all election results will be finally decided at the polling units and not at the court.’’
Ugorji, who also bewailed the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria, said: “In the face of this dismal situation, we cannot get tired of urging the government to rise to its primary responsibility of securing the lives and property of its citizens.”
Expressing deep concern over the prevailing state of tension and uncertainty in communities, where residents endure a life of increasing poverty, chronic hunger, hardships, and immense suffering, he noted that the dire situation had been further exacerbated by the abrupt and poorly planned removal of fuel subsidy, the floating of the naira, and the subsequent galloping inflation.
The CBCN, which also lamented that the factors had significantly affected the prices of essential items such as food and transportation, plunging millions of Nigerians into excruciating economic hardship, stressed that government’s efforts to alleviate the harsh effects of subsidy removal had not yielded significant results, leaving countless Nigerians to bear the brunt of the ruling class’s actions.
The clerics, said: “People have continued to live in a state of tension and uncertainty in our communities as they are subjected to a life of deepening poverty, chronic hunger, untold hardship and wanton suffering.”