Opinion
How Supreme Court trashed Atiku’s ‘fresh evidence’ from Chicago
By Ehichioya Ezomon
It’s obvious on October 23, 2023, that the Supreme Court judgment on appeals from the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) would be a formality. The barely 120 seconds it took the court to dismiss the 50-ground appeal by former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) starkly bears this out!
Also self-evident in that regard were exchanges between the seven-member appeals panel and counsel to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
At the hearing/adoption of the written addresses by Atiku/PDP and Obi/LP, some members of the panel, headed by Justice John Inyang Okoro, took turns to point out loopholes in Atiku’s pleadings through his lead lawyer, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), to the extent he had to admit the inherent flaws.
Uche had argued that the Supreme Court has the “power, jurisdiction and discretion” to admit fresh evidence after 180 days, even as he noted that Atiku didn’t plead the new evidence derived from Atiku’s discovery in the academic records of President Bola Tinubu at the Chicago State University (CSU), Chicago, Illinois in the United States (U.S), and deposition of CSU to confirm Tinubu’s certificate.
Uche also acknowledged that the time for filing fresh evidence had lapsed, as the PEPC had given judgment on September 6 in the petitions filed by Atiku/PDP, Obi/LP and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against the declaration of Tinubu as winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential poll.
Still, Uche insisted that: “There is no such constitutional limit of 180 days on the lower court to hear an election petition such that it can rob this (Supreme) court of exercising its jurisdiction in any manner whatsoever. The constitution was intentional and deliberate in setting the 180 days limit only for election tribunals and not for the court of appeal.”
Had the court obliged Uche’s plea to admit the new evidence – which Justice Okoro noted could’ve been a “friendly but unnecessary joke over a constitutional provision” – it would’ve breached provisions of the amended 1999 Constitution and Electoral Act 2022, on the 180 days to decide election petitions.
So, in the lead judgment, Justice Okoro debunked Uche’s “shocking” claims, and held that the said time was fixed like the “Rock of Gibraltar” that can’t be “extended or elongated, expanded or stretched beyond what it states.”
Taking his time to explain Uche’s call on the Supreme Court to exercise its “power, jurisdiction and discretion” to admit fresh evidence, Justice Okoro was blunt and unsparing.
He noted that Atiku filed his petition on March 21, 2023, “which was the last day of the 21 days prescribed in Section 285(5) (of the constitution) for filing election petitions after announcement of the results of an election.”
“An election tribunal shall deliver its judgment in writing within 180 days from the date of filing a petition, and where there is an appeal, within 60 days from the date of delivery of judgment, which elapsed on the 17th of September 2023,” he said.
Justice Okoro then delivered the punch, saying: “It is shocking to have the above argument (by Uche) in print. It could have passed for a friendly joke but not for a serious matter like this in the apex court.
“It is even an unnecessary joke over a constitutional provision. After election petitions have suffered under the previous provisions, it is unfair to suggest that we go back to those dark days.
“When the time for doing a thing is set by the constitution, the court cannot extend the time. This is the law which at this stage is elementary.
“The deposition (from CSU) cannot be admissible since the lower court (PEPC) did not admit it. This court cannot do what the lower court did not do.”
Justice Okoro added: “It is settled law that when the time fixed for doing a thing elapses, the court cannot extend the time. It is immutable, fixed like the Rock of Gibraltar – it cannot be extended, elongated, expanded or stretched beyond what it states.
“The court below (PEPC) lost its jurisdiction to determine any matter concerning the petition after the 180 days, which expired on September 17. This court cannot do what the lower court is no longer constitutionally allowed to do by section 285 of the constitution.
“No amendment can be made introducing new facts not contained in the election petition, as stated in section 132(7) of the Electoral Act. This application clearly runs foul of the Electoral Act. On this application, fresh evidence is not received as a matter of course.”
Uche had also urged the panel to diss technicalities and do substantial justice to the appeal, and sack Tinubu. In other words, Uche wanted the Justices to disregard the law, and rule on emotions, sentiments and morality, which underpin applying the principle of substantial justice.
Meanwhile, the processes of the appeals at the Supreme Court were similar to the petitions at the PEPC, which affirmed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) return of Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as President of Nigeria.
As was their modus operandi at the PEPC – when they literally abandoned allegations of massive infractions and violence at the poll, and focused on disqualifying Tinubu – Atiku and Obi resorted to appeals to base instincts for the apex court to sack the President.
Atiku and Obi claimed to win the election, but were rigged out by INEC in favour of Tinubu and the APC. They’re expected to establish their victory, and the fraud, with impeachable evidence from active participants at the election.
Besides, they’re to prove – beyond all reasonable doubts – allegations against Tinubu, especially those of criminal nature, such as forgery of certificates and documents that elevates to perjury under oath.
In their haste to disqualify and sack Tinubu, Atiku and Obi took their eyes off the ball, which’s that they won the poll, but that INEC wrongly declared Tinubu due to alleged “fixing” of the process to suppress and/or switch their votes for Tinubu.
Accordingly, Atiku and Obi ought to invite poll agents to speak to the thousands of documents they’d dumped on the court, and prove electoral crimes against Tinubu, the APC and INEC.
Hence, after exhaustive 12 and half hours of evaluating issues pleaded within the six months of proceedings, the PEPC Justices adopted the lead judgment of Justice Haruna Tsammani, the panel’s chairman – that the petitioners failed to prove their cases beyond all reasonable doubts.
“This petition accordingly lacks merit. I affirm the return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Justice Tsammani said.
Similar scenarios played out at the Supreme Court, with Atiku and Obi focusing on matters outside the ambit of the poll of February 25. Save the “fresh evidence” that Atiku added to his 35 grounds of questioning Tinubu’s return as President, both appellants repeated back-to-back issues the PEPC had dealt with.
So, it wasn’t difficult for the seven-member panel to come to the inevitable conclusion that the appeals were meritless, and dismissed them in their entirety.
On Atiku/PDP appeal, Justice Okoro, having resolved the seven issues for determination in favour of Tinubu, declared: “The figure before us (Tinubu’s total votes, which Atiku couldn’t counter with an alternative figure) shows that the 2nd Respondent won the highest number of votes and was duly declared winner.
“On the whole, having resolved all the issues against the Appellants, it is my view that there is no merit in this appeal and it is hereby dismissed. The judgement of the lower court, delivered on September 6, is hereby affirmed.”
As for Obi/LP’s appeal, Justice Okoro barely spent 120 seconds to consider and conclude it’s “lacking in merit” having only a distinct issue from the Atiku/PDP appeal. In other words, Atiku and Obi’s appeals were mutatis mutandis (the same).
Justice Okoro noted that the only distinct issue that Obi raised about Vice President Kashim Shettima’s alleged double nomination had been dealt with by the Supreme Court on May 26, 2023, in an appeal marked: SC/CV/501/2023.
“This court cannot allow the matter to be relitigated in this court,” Justice Okoro said. “There must be an end to litigation. This matter ought not to have come here. The appeal lacks merit and it is accordingly dismissed.”
As they rue their electoral and legal losses, Atiku and Obi should be reminded that were abuses, insults, blackmail, intimidation, threats of physical harm, and appeals to base instincts strategies for winning petitions and appeals, they would’ve had judgments at the PEPC on September 6, and Supreme Court on October 26, 2023, respectively.
Nigerian-born American Prof. Farooq Kperogi, in a piece, “PEPT’s verdict and the task before the Supreme Court,” published in tribuneonlineng.com of September 16, summed up Atiku and Obi’s pleadings, “as high on emotions, conjectures, moral posturing, grandstanding, logical absurdities (such as the 25% win in the FCT) than on legally-sound, substantive arguments about the election itself.”
“They didn’t present foolproof, unimpeachable, evidentiary facts… Wishful thinking, online bullying, tendentious accounts of events, and coarse, primitive, illiterate invective are not substitutes for substance. Neither are mass delusion and blind political cultism guarantees of electoral victory,” Kperogi wrote.
Atiku and his supporters, aliased “Atikulators” and Obi and his “ObIdients” followers denigrated and over-rawed the person and character of President Tinubu, the APC, INEC’s Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Justices of the Appeal and Supreme Courts and the entire Judiciary – on the grounds that they frustrated their election, and legal remedies therein.
Directly or via proxies, they filed and re-filed multiple cases against Tinubu in Nigeria and in the United States (U.S), solely to disqualify him from the election, damage his reputation and delegitimise his presidency even if he won the petitions and appeals in the courts.
Atiku, Obi and supporters backed the lawsuits with street protests, press conferences, and interviews in local and foreign media, to spew hateful and inciteful statements against real and/or imaginary politico-judicial enemies.
Lately, Atiku and Obi have competed for “the most critical” of President Tinubu. If Atiku held a press conference or issued a statement on Tinubu or matters in courts in Nigeria, and in the U.S., Obi would follow to raise the bar against their alleged nemesis.
When Atiku held a “World Press Conference” to relitigate his “discovery” from Chicago State University – that he filed as fresh evidence at the Supreme Court – and slammed Tinubu as unfit to be President, Obi followed suit, calling on Tinubu to “reintroduce himself to Nigerians,” who “doubt his true identity.”
Still, as they strove to carve separate niches – as regards the February 25 poll in which they placed second and third behind Tinubu – Atiku and Obi looked to work in synergy, to disqualify, and sack Tinubu, before deciding who the cap fits as President.
In the results declared by INEC on March 1, 2023, Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes, and secured 25% of votes cast in 29 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to emerge the winner. Atiku came second with 6,984,520 votes, and secured 25% in 21 States and FCT; and Obi, placed third with 6,101,533 votes, and secured 25% in 17 States and FCT.
But as the Supreme Court has dismissed their appeals against Tinubu’s election as President of Nigeria, the electoral competition and collaboration between Atiku and Obi may’ve come to an end in the 2023 poll cycle.
As “all eyes” are now trained on the 2027 election, Atiku and Obi should retool their strategies on how to handle election matters!
I have worked in the National Assembly though in the Green Chambers as an aide earlier on. I have seen power games played in their rawest form. so I understand how the game is played. The National Assembly is not a debating society where lawmakers sip tea and exchange polite arguments.
It is a political war zone not for the weak but where lawmakers have been known to throw insults like free akara and rip agbadas like WWE wrestlers to assert dominance.
What happened to Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was not an accident. It was a deliberate act of political suppression disguised as Senate procedure.
If we are being honest, Nigerian lawmakers hardly follow procedure. They shout over each other, climb chairs, and in extreme cases, physical blows settle matters faster than parliamentary rules.
In this same Senate, a senator once jumped over tables to grab the mace like an action film hero. Nobody declared him “out of order.”
So, who are we fooling?
Natasha’s real offense was not breaking Senate rules; it was speaking with the kind of confidence the system does not tolerate from women. She did not lower her voice. She did not wait for permission. She did not beg.
For that, she had to be reminded of her place.
Akpabio, who now plays the role of Senate Headmaster, was once a student of political hooliganism himself.
When he opposed Bukola Saraki’s leadership in the Senate, he disrupted, challenged, and broke every so-called “rule” to assert his position.
Nobody told him he was “out of order” when he threw his weight around. Nobody switched off his microphone when he flexed his influence.
Now, the same Akpabio wants to lecture Natasha on “respect”? Somebody help me understand this selective amnesia.
The message is clear:
Men in power can be loud and aggressive, but women must be quiet and submissive.
Women in power must not challenge the men, otherwise it’s labelled “disrespectful.”
Women in the Senate must clap, nod, and play backup singers while men take the lead.
The Senate allows men to play rough, but expects women to behave like obedient kitchen wives.
Natasha refused to follow that script, and Akpabio’s Senate is punishing her for it.
Natasha’s seat change was not a coincidence; it is a message and a Political Attack.
For those who don’t understand how the National Assembly politics works, let me educate you.
Where you sit in plenary matters. The further back you are, the less visible and important you become. Cameras don’t pick you up easily. If you raise your hand, it’s like you don’t exist.
The presiding officer conveniently “doesn’t see your hand.”The system gradually silences you without needing to say a word.
First, they moved Natasha’s seat to the far end, near the exit. As if waiting for her to walk herself out.
She sat there. Still, that was not enough for them.
Now, they have moved her seat AGAIN!
They have pushed her to the far end corner of the plenary, the burial ground for lawmakers who don’t talk, don’t think, don’t contribute!
That place is for the benchwarmers, the ones who come, sign attendance, eat money, shout “Aye!” and “Nay!” like programmed robots, then vanish!
Natasha is NOT a benchwarmer. She is not a political errand girl. So why are they trying to bury her voice?
If the Senate follows rules, why was Natasha not informed before her seat was changed?
She woke up one morning, came to plenary, and suddenly… bam! She was told to move. Why?
Why?
Since when did they start moving senators around like chess pieces?
Since when did they start treating elected lawmakers like secondary school students being punished for noise-making?
This is deliberate sidelining. She has been excluded from international engagements, forced to fund her own travels while her male colleagues enjoy first-class treatment.
When she dares to raise her voice?
Her microphone is killed like an unwanted radio station.
Is this a democracy or a boys’ cult?
I have worked with lawmakers. I have sat behind the scenes. I have seen how the game is played.
Nigerian politics is not about truth or debate. It is about who can intimidate who into silence.
Akpabio’s “you are out of order” was not just a procedural statement, it was an attempt to put Natasha in her place.
To remind her that no matter how educated, outspoken, or intelligent she is, she is still a woman in a system built by men, designed for men.
That is the strategy. That is the game.
What Happened to Immunity? Or Does It Only Work for Men?
Senators have immunity for whatever they say on the floor of the House.
That is the law. That is the rule.
Yet, somehow, Akpabio treated Natasha like an errant schoolgirl, as if she was breaking some sacred commandment.
The real question is:
Would Akpabio have done the same if Natasha were a man?
Would he have cut off the microphone of a male senator mid-sentence in that same manner?
We know the answer.
Natasha represents something Nigerian politics is not used to; an outspoken woman who does not wait to be given permission to speak.
The system is playing a dirty game: if we can’t stop her from speaking, they will make sure nobody sees her.
That is why this gbas gbos was different.
This is not about rules.
This is about power.
That is the real game.
The Nigerian Senate has never been a quiet place. It has never been a place where emotions are checked at the door.
It is a battleground where policies, positions, and political futures are fought for.
So why is it that the same Senate that tolerates male aggression cannot handle female confidence?
The Nigerian Senate has always been a boys’ club. Women in the Red Chambers are expected to sit quietly, nod obediently, and support the men.
Natasha refused. And now, they are making her pay for it.
Senator Natasha did what every senator is elected to do. She had every right to push back.
The job of a senator is to speak, debate and challenge issues, not to sit down and watch like a guest at a wedding reception.
If that is now considered “out of order,” then perhaps the entire system needs to be reset.
If a lawmaker cannot express themselves, then what exactly are they doing in the Senate? What is their purpose?
Akpabio, as Senate President, has a duty to manage the house.
Leadership is not about silencing people; it is about managing power, balancing authority with fairness without being threatened by it.
Switching off a senator’s microphone is not leadership; it is dictatorship in disguise.
This was not about rules, this was about maintaining control.
What happened in the Red Chambers was bigger than one argument. It was a reminder that power in Nigeria is still a carefully guarded boys’ club.
A place where women are expected to be seen, not hear
This is not just about Natasha. It is about every woman in power who has been bullied into silence and deliberately made invisible in a room where she deserves to stand tall.
This is about a political culture that calls male assertiveness “leadership” but labels female boldness “disrespect.”
This is about a system that is comfortable with male chaos but afraid of female confidence.
The National Assembly is not a church. It is not a royal palace. It is a political arena. Senators should be allowed to speak, regardless of gender.
Call me ILUO-OGHENE but i remain ILUO DePOET and indeed, i have seen with my own eyes.👀
Oya, talk your talk, let’s hear your view.✍🏻
By Hamza Lamisi
No doubt that one of the expected big game Changers of the 10th National Assembly, particularly the Senate, is the emergence of a vocal voice who ran one of the country’s most persecuted election campaigns in Nigeria’s history. From the feminine gender in a male dominated political ecosystem to being transracial in a highly conservative District; a Christian in Muslim-saturated bargain table of stakeholders, from being single to inter-tribally married in a natively and culturally republic Ebira Land. Not only to contest in a struggling opposition party but to face the most ruthless Chief Security Officer of her State, from her District.
The odds were obviously too many but Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan upturned the guess – defeating the threatening ruling party and emerging the first female Senator Kogi State ever produced. She defined the turning point of Kogi Central’s representation in Nigeria’s bicameral Parliament. Unlike her colleagues from Kogi State who rode on the backing of the number one citizen of the State, Senator Natasha’s road to the red Chambers was never paved, it was a tough and rough journey of determination, persistence, unwavering dedication and commitment to a dream held in trust for the people.
She walked through the storms and she is shaped by the lessons – to remain bold, assertive, unbroken, unbeaten and unbowed by any circumstance, because only by struggle and perseverance freedom comes. Not unaware of the systemic dialogue, lobby and collaboration but Senator Natasha would not do so at the expense or in exchange of the People’s trust and mandate for which she swore oath to protect.
Stepping into the Senate as a survivor of election and litigation battles, and looking back to the unwavering support and uncommon trust of Kogi people and Nigerians by extension, notwithstanding already some months behind her fellow law makers, Senator Natasha was prepared to have the end justify the means. Barely 16 months from the very day of her swearing-in till date, Senator Natasha’s contributions and impact in the 10th Senate have left many wonder if she was a first time Senator or one elected from the minority opposition. Most popular and best performing member of the current National Assembly.
Just within one year in office, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan lit 30 kilometers of road networks across Kogi Central with over 2,000 solar powered streetlights. Over 1,300 women and youth were trained and empowered by the law maker. Senator Natasha has supported the tuition fee of over 353 vulnerable indigenous students at tertiary institutions nationwide. She has faciliated federal employment opportunities for various graduates and facilitate capacity building trainings and empowerment for many others.
She brought a reliable supply of portable water to Kogi Central communities with 12 water reticulation projects with each being a massive 50,000-liter solar-powered motorized water system, which serves 300 locations and provides, 1,800 fetching taps.
To draw legislation closer to the grassroot, Senator Natasha engaged 100 constituency aides both men and women across the 57 wards in Kogi Central. She has distributed 12 trucks of grains, 10, 000 wrappers for women, 20,000 notebooks, 5,000 school bags and reconstructed and remodeled Abdul Aziz Attah Memorial College Okene (AAAMCO), Okene to smart school.
Within one year in office, Senator Natasha has attracted employments in both federal agencies and private organizations to over 30 graduates from her constituency.
Ihima community has been without police station for the past 7 years, Senator Natasha embarked on total reconstruction of Ihima Police Station which was commissioned by the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
Senator Natasha distributed 4 trucks of fertilizers totalling 2,400 bags of NPK and Urea fertilizers to Kogi Central farmers. Free Business CAC registration of 2,500 SMEs. She has empowered Kogi Central students from 12 selected tertiary institutions across Nigeria with multipurpose business cart and start up fund.
Commissioned six constituency offices in the five LGAs to make government closer to the people. Senator Natasha has sponsored two motions and two bills including the bill for the establishment of Nigeria Gold Reserve, the bill for the establishment of Ihima Federal Medical Centre, motion to investigate alleged corruption and inefficiency in Ajaokuta Company Ltd and National Iron Ore Mining Company, NIOMCO amongst other.
Senator Natasha has provided 5,000 digital learning devices to both public primary and secondary schools in Kogi Central.
For her magical achievements in office and accelerated development and impact her constituency has witnessed, Senator Natasha has received and even turned down several prestigious awards. She emerged Senator of the year 2024 which is her first year in office as Senator.
Achieving these feats in less than 16 months as a first time Senator and one from the minority party and from Kogi Central, one may wonder what could be the Achilles’ Heels of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan in the 10th Senate and why the persecution by supposed colleagues in the Chambers. Is there a question of loyalty to individual rather than institution? Is it her performance record or her dedication to the business of legislation rather than playing the cheap political cards around the leadership of the Senate? Is it her idea of universal development of Nigeria rather than regional? After all, every Senator is of the Federal Republic Nigeria and should think and act so.
We may ask further; is anyone being threatened by her uncommon pace? Is there a question of envy or jealousy among her colleagues? Do they expect Senator Natasha to be one step behind, considering the enormity of the task on her shoulders as Senator from an already underrepresented District in the past? Is there a fear that Senator Natasha may reveal to Nigerians what is due to them from their representatives across boards? We may have more to ask than provide answers.
Meanwhile, Senator Natasha is a more than equal to the task of addressing the challenges that come with standing out in an uncommon manner. She is not one to be taught the difference between ‘diplomacy and cold slavery’ or ‘breach of rules and violation of right’. Nobody can silence her or box her to a corner of the Senate. Beyond her voice and impact over the years as an ordinary citizen, the people have been her greatest strength and she can only get more strengthed by any attempt to silence her.
Nigerians know how rare it is to have a NATASHA among the current crop of leaders and they are obviously making sure she is protected against bully, intimidation or harassment in the Senate. The dream is of the people, by the people and for the people, and so the mandate too.
By Professor Mike Ozekhome, SAN, CON, OFR, LL.D.
I have carefully read and listened to former Nigerian military president, General Ibrahim
Badamosi Babagida’s public remorse and regrets over the atrocious annulment of the June
12,1993 presidential elections. He did this 32 whopping years later. I want to very quickly say
that it takes a man with strong guts and balls and a man who has become repentant, born
again and has seen the face of God to publicly recant his earlier wrongful deeds and offer
public apology to the entire nation. This was no doubt meant to heal gapinng wounds and
balm wounded and bruised hearts.
The polls, the best, most transparent and credible elections, ever held in Nigeria till date,
were meant to end decades of military d The annulment threw Nigeria into turmoil and
widespread unreast, protests, maimings and killings. This forced Babagida to “step aside”;
the enthronenent of the Enest Shonekan’s Interim Government; and the arrest and detention
of Chief Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner who later died in Aso Villa in questionable
and suspicious circumstances. Of course, General Sani Abacha who was his second in
command later sacked Shonekan in a bloodless coup. For years, IBB prevaricated on the
annulment, claiming he did it in the best national interest. But on Thursday the 21st of
February, 2025,Babangida during the presentation of his memoirs, “A journey In Service”,
pointedly regretted in the public: “I regret June 12. I accept full responsibility for the
decisions taken and June 12 happened under my watch. Mistakes, missteps happened
in quick succession. That accident of history is most regrettable. The nation is entitled
to expect my expression of regret “. And wait for it:: he acknowledged for the first time that
Abiola won the elections fair and square, trouncing his major opponent, Alhaji Bashir Tofa.
I want to salute Babagida for having the courage and humility to own up like a man; that
everything that happened during the June 12 crisis took place under him as the head of state
and the president who was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. I salute him for acknowledging that his government which actually
organised unarguably the freest, fairest and most credible elections in the electoral history
of Nigeria when it introduced option A4 from electoral books that were hithenlrto unknown
to Nigeria or to the world. But unfortunately, regrettably like he now admits, he again turned
around to annul the same elections in a way that was most bizarre, curious and unnatural.
To me, that he has come out to open up to doing something wrong and egregious to a
bleeding nation should be appreciated. I believe that Nigerians should forgive him because
to err is human and to forgive is divine ( Eph 4:32 ). I personally have now forgiven him
because I was also a victim of the June12 crisis. It threw up all manners of challenges to me
as a person, where in my very youthful age; in my thirties, I found myself marching on the
streets of Lagos every day- from Ikeja bus stop roundabout, to Ikorodu road; up to Tejuosho
market; from there to Ojuelegba, Surulere; to Mushin; to Shomolu and Igando, Alimosho.
Everyday, we were on the streets, protesting the mindless annulment. Some of us were killed
in process; some were lucky enough to escape abroad on self exile. But some of us- very few
indeed- refused to flee our dear country; we stayed back. We stared at the military eyeball to
eyeball. We challenge authority and spoke truth to power. We challenged impunity and
repression. I suffered several detentions across different detention centres. I virtually could
not find means of livelihood for my youthful family because I was profiled, my phones bugged
and no briefs were coming in. But I personally forgive him because it takes tons of guts to
make public confession of having erred and atone for same as he has now done.
It is confession that leads to penance and penance leads to restitution and then forgiveness.
If Babagida were to die today, I believe that he will see the face of God because he has prayed
God to forgive him; and he has prayed Nigerians to forgive him. Beyond that historic and
epochal mistake of the annulment of the June 12 election which constitutes his original sin,
let me place it on record that Babagida is one of the greatest presidents that Nigeria ever had
in terms of his ingenuity, rulership mantra; ideas for national resurgimento; ideas that
contributed greatly to nation-building. These were aside the IMF-induced loans and pills
which he introduced and which we again valiantly fought against successfully.
Babagida it was who gave birth to the Federal Capital Territory and laid the solid foundation for virtually everything you see there today. His government was peopled by intellectuals and
not by half illiterates and quacks. He recognized and used intellects. He was luminous and he built bridges of understanding, friendship and brotherhood across Nigeria. Nigerians,
please, accept IBB’s confession and forgive him his sin of annuling the June 12,1993
elections. Let the wounds heal; let the heart melt; and let the spirit of national triumphalism
prevail.
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