APC denies alleged phone conversation between Tinubu, CJN
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied a reported telephone conversation between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola over the ongoing Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
The denial comes in response to a misleading tweet by Jackson Ude, which alleged that the CJN advised President Tinubu and the APC to prepare for a presidential election rerun.
Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC in a statement, labeled Ude’s tweet as “decidedly mischievous and intentionally misleading.”
The party said that President Tinubu and the APC had no involvement in any private conversations with the CJN regarding the ongoing matter before the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC).
Stressing the President’s commitment to democratic principles, the APC asserted that it emerged victorious in the last presidential election without any doubt.
Furthermore, the party reaffirmed its respect for the right of aggrieved candidates to seek redress through appropriate legal channels, as provided by the Constitution and the Electoral Act.
The party also accused Ude and others of spreading falsehood and conjecture, cautioning against inflaming political passions, creating doubt, and preemptively undermining the courts’ verdict on this crucial matter.
The statement reads: “We have become aware of a decidedly mischievous and intentionally misleading tweet by one Mr Jackson Ude. He alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was in telephone conversation with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, in which the CJN purportedly told the President and APC to prepare for a presidential election rerun.
“It is disturbing and disgraceful for Mr Ude to fabricate a falsehood of this kind on a matter of serious national importance that is actively under review by the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC).
“President Tinubu and our party won the last presidential election without a doubt, and do not have any need to engage in side conversations with the CJN regarding pending petitions before the PEPC. As the core democrat that he is, the President respects the right of aggrieved candidates in the election to seek redress for any grievances that they may have. The Constitution and Electoral Act provide effective guarantees of that right..
“The PEPC should be afforded the time and space to perform its important constitutional and statutory duty of adjudicating and delivering a verdict in the matter without needlessly calling the integrity of our judges into question.
“Falsehood and conjecture by the likes of Mr. Ude only aim to inflame political passions, create doubt and panic, and preemptively undermine the verdict of the courts in this important matter.
“We are confident that Nigerians are smarter and more discerning than to be affected by this opposition brand of tasteless and crass mercenary expedition.”
