APC To Obi: Evidence And Law, Not Public Opinion, Decide Court Cases

The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who lost to President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the February general election, has been told by the ruling party that he cannot win court cases based on public opinion but on evidence and law.

The APC made this statement in response to Obi’s criticism of the Supreme Court judgement that upheld Tinubu’s victory at the presidential polls.

Obi had said that the Supreme Court showed a “disturbing disregard for public opinion” and “abandoned its role as a court of law and policy.”

The APC, through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, dismissed Obi’s reaction as “late and bitter”, and said that he failed on “both counts”.

Morka said that Obi was unable to differentiate between his “distorted version of public opinion” and reality, which was his “biggest downfall” during the campaign season.

He said that Obi was “deluded by the mass hysteria of his noisy online supporters and fringe followers” and “locked himself in an alternative reality, a separate political world of self-deception.”

“In his press conference today, November 6, 2023, Obi blamed our democratic institutions, especially the courts, for not giving him victory—not because he won the election, not because he proved his case in court as required by law, but because he is Peter Obi. That arrogant sense of entitlement seems to underlie his bitter attack on our institutions.

“Obi, who has previously benefited from the rulings of the Supreme Court on electoral matters, has shown his arrogance and vanity by his harsh attack on the judiciary. When the same courts decided in his favour, the courts were champions of democracy.

“Now that the decisions are against him, all of a sudden, the courts have betrayed democracy. Mr. Obi, it cannot always be about you. It must always be about our country. Cases are not won on public opinion; they are won on evidence and the law. You failed on both counts,” the APC spokesman said.

Morka said that the APC welcomed Obi’s decision to play the role of opposition going forward.

He urged Obi and his Labour Party to do so in a mature and constructive manner and to contribute to the important task of building a safer, stronger, and more prosperous country for Nigerians.