2023 PEPC Judgment: Many Nigerians are disappointed with the judiciary – Archbishop Chukwuma

By Iheanyi Chukwudi

Archbishop, Enugu Province and Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Enugu, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, has described the Wednesday night judgment delivered by the 2023 Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) as a rape of justice, noting that the judiciary has once again failed Nigerians.

Reacting to the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led panel’s judgment which dismissed all the petitions against President Bola Tinubu’s election and affirmed his victory, cautioned against pushing Nigerians to the wall.

Chukwuma however, urged Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and others that lost at the tribunal not to waste their time and resources in going for appeal, as he feels the Nigerian judiciary was not yet ready to dispense justice based on facts.

He disclosed that he has been inundated with calls from all parts of country over the judgment, all expressing disappointment with the judiciary, hoped to be the saving grace for democracy and rule of law in Nigeria.

The Archbishop, wondering how the court could say that what was enshrined in the Nigeria Constitution, (the 25 per cent vote in FCT) does not matter, and “all the substantial evidence of malpractices and INEC failure to adhere to their own rules, which are well known to Nigerians,” were no issues, the Archbishop said Nigeria was indeed in serious trouble.

He expressed the fear that Nigeria is being thrown into a nation ruled in the dark, questioning why both the announcement of the presidential result in February and election petition judgment delivery on Wednesday, September 6, were all done in the night.

According to him, “As far as I am Chukwuma, many of us are not happy with the judgment, and it seems this judgment is favouring a government that is coming to rule Nigeria in darkness.

When this result that was petitioned against was announced it was in darkness, when the judgment on the petitions is being made, it was in darkness.

This is a sign of darkened governance that we are facing right now and one is not happy about it and that is why I feel it is a time for us to intensify our prayers and be very much careful about what may happen later. Things may be somehow quiet now but Nigeria is on gunpowder.”

He however, called on Nigerians to intensify their prayers for God’s own judgment to prevail in the country, cautioning the judiciary and executive not to throw Nigeria into similar situations as in Niger and Gabon.

“We don’t want the situation whereby there will be an eruption of which what is happening in Gabon and Niger will happen in Nigeria. This is because of corruption and bad governance. Nigerians are tired of corruption and bad governance and that is exactly what has repeated in the judgment.

“We just pray that Nigerians will come to pray to God for God’s own judgment to prevail at His own right time, because this judgment on Wednesday is not satisfactory, it is unacceptable, and it is not at all favourable to the Nigerian populace. So let us watch it and be careful,” he added.