The Labour Party (LP) has said that there won’t be anarchy in Nigeria if President Bola Tinubu is removed from office by the court.
Tinubu had asked the presidential election tribunal to throw out the petition filed by LP seeking to nullify his victory in the 2023 general elections, on the grounds that he did not secure 25% of votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Tinubu, through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun, in a final written address to the tribunal, claimed the FCT is the 37th state for electoral purposes.
According to the president, any other interpretation would “lead to absurdity, chaos, anarchy and alteration of the very intention of the legislature”.
However, in reaction to this, the LP in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said Tinubu’s remarks were unnecessary since the matter is before the court.
He said legal interpretation of the law, as provided for in the Constitution, on 25 per cent of lawful votes cast in the FCT cannot “lead to absurdity, chaos, anarchy and alteration of the very intention of the legislature.”
The statement noted: “The truth of the matter is that there are no sentiments, when it comes to matters of law. The law is the law, and once the law has stipulated the manner and how a matter must be carried out, it must follow that pattern.
“If the law has stated the requirement that a presidential candidate must meet before he can be declared, there is no shortcut to it. Therefore, if the Constitution, which is the ground norm of the law in Nigeria, has stated clearly that you must score at least 25 per cent in FCT before the president can be declared, anything short of that cannot remedy it.
“We insist that no amount of threat from the APC on the judges in the tribunal can change the processes and requirements that the law has put in place. It must be followed and that is the position of the Labour Party.
“Let me assure the APC and their leaders that if there were no absurdity, chaos, and anarchy when they forced their way into power, Nigeria will still witness peace when they are eventually evicted from power,” Ifoh’s statement read in part.
