APC urges Obi to abandon his presidential ambitions

The All Progressives Congress has charged Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the most recent general elections, with having an unjustified sense of entitlement to the prestigious position of president of Nigeria.

The ruling party was responding to Peter Obi’s media conference, in which he characterised as a miscarriage of justice the Supreme Court justice’s declaration regarding his appeal of the Presidential Election Petition Court ruling.

In a statement released on Monday night, Felix Morka, the APC’s national publicity secretary, stated that cases are won based on the evidence and the law, not on popular opinion.

The statement says, in part: “Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate, expressed a belated and grumpy response to the Supreme Court’s decision to reject his appeal against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s election victory. He claimed that “the Supreme Court exhibited a disturbing aversion to public opinion just as it abandoned its responsibility as a court of law and policy.”

“Earlier today, November 6, 2023, during his press conference, Obi once more accused our democratic institutions, especially the judiciary, of failing to grant him victory—not because he had won the election or successfully argued his case in court as required by law, but simply because he is Peter Obi. His vicious criticism of our institutions seems to be infused with that arrogant attitude of entitlement.

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“Mr. Obi’s biggest downfall during the election campaign has been his egregious incapacity to discern between fact and his distorted interpretation of public opinion. Captured by the collective frenzy of his raucous online community and fringe followers, Mr. Obi immersed himself in a self-delusional other reality.

As “someone who has previously benefited from the Supreme Court’s rulings on electoral matters,” Obi’s scathing criticism of the legal system simply serves to highlight his conceit and haughtiness. The courts were exemplars of democracy when they had ruled in his favour before. Suddenly, the courts are betraying democracy because the verdicts are against him. It can’t always be about you, Mr. Obi. It has to be about our nation at all times. Cases are won or lost based on the evidence and the law, not on popular opinion. On both counts, you came up short.

“We applaud Mr. Obi’s choice to pursue opposition politics in the future. We implore Obi and his Labour Party to act in a responsible and mature manner in order to contribute to the vital work of creating a more secure, powerful, and affluent nation for all of us.