"It's Not Over" - Atiku Reacts As Supreme Court Dismisses Adeleke's Appeal
The Presidential candidate of the People's Democratic
Party, PDP, in the 2019 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has
reacted after the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by Senator
Ademola Adeleke.
The apex court in a split decision of
five to two, the apex court’s panel of seven Justices held that the
proceedings and the majority judgment of the Osun State Election
Petition Tribunal which had declared the PDP as the winner of the poll
were a nullity. Reacting over the outcome today, Atiku in a statement
said the love, acceptance and endorsement that the people of Osun
bestowed on both Senator Adeleke and the Peoples Democratic Party is
"not over" and cannot be overlooked. The statement reads, "I join with
people of goodwill all over Nigeria to say to Senator Ademola Adeleke,
and the people of the great state of Osun, that we stand with them in
good times and in difficult days." The Supreme Court has ruled and
because of its judicial finality, the legal case is over. However, the
love, acceptance and endorsement that the people of Osun bestowed on
both Senator Adeleke and the Peoples Democratic Party is not over and
cannot be overlooked. Those who think this is the end of the road for
Senator Adeleke and the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun, are greatly
mistaken. This is not the end. Not even the beginning of the end. No.
Today marks the continued ascendancy of Senator Adeleke and his party in
the hearts and minds of his people. They had expected that the progress
and development that the Adeleke family had consistently brought to
Osun will be translated to their governance. That hope is not dead. Only
delayed. I extend my right hand of brotherhood to Senator Adeleke in
all his future endeavours and I assure the good people of the state of
Osun that the Peoples Democratic Party remembers their love and
acceptance and will never forget to stand by them no matter the
situation. Finally, I urge the nation’s judiciary to take a pulse of the
nation and reflect it. In their hands, God has placed a great
responsibility. The duty to ensure that justice is done, irrespective of
the pressure to do otherwise, by the powers that be."