In the just concluded week, the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) in Abuja on Wednesday, September 12, 2019 reaffirmed the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari, who vied on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) on the February 23, 2019 Presidential election.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!According to PEPT, evidence tendered at the tribunal against President Buhari that he did not have requisite academic qualification to vie for office was inconsequential.
Specifically, the tribunal noted that “Submission of educational certificate is not a requirement to contest election”.
Unsatisfied with the verdict, the petitioner and presidential candidate on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and along with his party, resolved to head to the Supreme Court to challenge the judgment of the five-man tribunal, chaired by Justice Muhammed Garba.
In another development, the Northern Governors on Thursday, September 12, 2019, abandoned the controversial Rural Grazing Area plan for the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), stating that the latter showcased a clearer path for modernizing pastoral activities and would be a good strategy to curb the incessant herders/farmers clashes.
According to the Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, the adopted NLTP was part of the holistic regional plan of action, under which Governor Aminu Masari-led committee was set up, to find a lasting solution to the entire insecurity in the northern region.
We feel that the tribunal’s judgement further reduces the uncertainty in the political space as the citizens and the international communities witnessed the closure to the February 23, 2019 Presidential Election.
Although PDP has resolved to challenge the verdict at the Supreme Court, we do not anticipate any negative impact on the economy from this move, given the intense excitement investors exhibited after the judgment – equities market printed two consecutive days of increase.
Also, as all hands continue to be on deck in order to stem the rate of criminality in the country, given the adoption of the NLTP by the northern governors, the political space would further be cleared of vagueness which has hitheto resulted in the slow pace of economic recovery.