2023 Presidential Election and The Supreme Court Final Verdict

By Samson R. Osagie, PhD

Let me congratulate Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the overwhelming verdict of the Supreme Court of Nigeria affirming his election as the duly elected President of Nigeria in the February 25,2023 elections.

I also want to congratulate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi both Presidential candidates of the PDP and LP respectively for exercising their full constitutional rights under our laws to challenge the outcome of the said election. They have in no small measure contributed greatly to the development of our electoral jurisprudence and expanded the frontiers of legal knowledge.

Mr. President deserves a number of accolades considering his tortuous journey to the Presidency of Nigeria. He is perhaps the only President against whom unprecedented landmines were laid on his way to assuming the leadership of this great country.

It is no longer news how his party leadership( particularly the National Chairman) purportedly endorsed a Northern Presidential aspirant as a presumptive consensus candidate of the party ahead of the party’s presidential primaries for May 30th and 31st 2022. It took God and Asiwaju’s political dexterity and brinkmanship to surmount this huddle and emerge victorious as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 Presidential Election.

No sooner had the bruises from the primaries simmer down, the Central Bank of Nigeria with the approval of President Mohammadu Buhari introduced the Naira redesign policy which brought untold economic hardship on the people coupled with an emergency scarcity of petroleum products.

Nigerians have been suffering SHA!

All these were intended to turn the people against the ruling party in order to dissuade them from voting for the party and its Presidential candidate.

As we eventually saw in the outcome of the election, the impact of those anti people’s actions and policies of government was evident.

However, in a three horse race that reckons as the fiercest presidential election every conducted in the history of our country, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu secured the highest number of votes and met the constitutional threshold to be declared the winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) on March 1st, 2023. The rest they say is history!

Now with the Supreme Court of the land validating his victory, the end to all contestations about the 2023 Presidential election has come to a close. For as stated in a number of cases, it is an established legal principle that there must be an end to litigation. See A-G., Nasarawa State vs. A-G., Plataeu State (2012) LPELR – 9730 (SC); Dakolo & Ors Vs. Rewane-Dakolo & Ors (2011) LPELR – 915 (SC).” PER T. ABUBAKAR, J.C.A.among others.

Once again Congratulations to Mr. President.

President Tinubu and The Nigerian Economy

Beyond the euphoria of the victory of the validation of the election of Mr President lies ahead the arduous task of recovering our nation from sliding dangerously into the precipice. No doubt, Mr President has never lost the opportunity to restate his determination to turn the economy around for the betterment of the people of Nigeria. Yes, his speeches are laced with inspiration and hope for a greater Nigeria which he anchored on his social contract encapsulated in his RENEWED HOPE AGENDA.

I have no doubt that Nigerians believe in his ability and capacity to turn things around but their patience cannot remains eternally elastic. The cost of living is skyrocketing, but the President says he is aware. The foreign exchange regime is souring to an unbearable height, yet Mr President knows. Petroleum products remains  unbearably expensive, the President is not ignorant of same.

In his Independence Day address, Mr President highlighted measures to tackle the myriad of problems besetting our country and he expects the sub-national governments to join in resolving them. The impact of the Federal Government contribution to supplying palliatives to the people vary from State to State. That will be another subject of discussion some other time.

Truth be told, the nature of our economy does not provide the enabling basis for growth and development particularly as our productive base remains abysmally low.

Mr. President will need to  prioritize manufacturing, agriculture and other non oil sector products  to boost our exports. Nigerians are not only resilient but a determined people who would not hesitate to grab the opportunity when provided.

In doing this, the incidence of middle men intervention in the production value chain must be eliminated. Indeed, middlemen, official or unofficial have been largely responsible for the non actualization of pristine policies of government

The skyrocketing rate of foreign exchange needs to be halted as a matter of National emergency. It is now doubtful whether the so call market forces are still responsible for this uneconomical surge in the Naira decline.

The current free fall of the Naira must be the result of the activities of speculators who are daily trading in Forex to make excessive gains without producing anything or Creating any job.

This is an unpatriotic and unacceptable economic activity that holds no meaningful dividends for the economy.

Mr President must halt this madness and get those charge with our monetary policies to rein in the traders in Forex and their masters in and outside  of government in order to stop the drift. As things stands today, trading in Forex is the most lucrative business in Nigeria and it holds no benefit for the country and the vast majority of the citizens. It is purely an elite business hegemony.

Mr. President, God has a reason for bestowing on you the leadership of the world’s largest black nation and you must increase the speed of your intervention in our national crisis.  Nigerians awaits some short term reliefs from the crushing impact of high cost of living.

A stitch in time, they say, saves nine.

Once again, Congratulations Mr President.