As Nigerians await the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, (PEPT), there seems to be anxiety among the three presidential candidates in the 2023 election that appeared at the Tribunal, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and the incumbent President Bola Tinubu, as well as their supporters nationwide.
Atiku, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), both of who came second and third, respectively, in the election result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had dragged the winner of the election, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to the Tribunal, challenging his victory at the poll.
After over three months of hearing in the petitions, the Tribunal on August 1, 2023 reserved judgment in the two cases filed by both Atiku and Obi.
The five-member panel presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani reserved judgment in Atiku and Obi’s petitions to a date that will be communicated to the parties after their final written addresses have been adopted.
As the parties in the case eagerly await the outcome of the petitions, the Federal Government took a panic measure last Tuesday as it dissolved the Secretariat of the Advertising Standard Panel (ASP) over its approval of a billboard, which it termed as blackmailing the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal with the haedline ‘All Eyes on The Judiciary.’
The billboard erected in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja is drawing the attention of the public to the impending judgment at the Presidential Election Tribunal. But the APC-led Federal Government said the Advertising Standard Panel, the statutory body under the Council charged with the duty of ensuring that advertisements conform to the prevailing laws of the Federation and the Code of Ethics of advertising, erred in approving the ‘ ‘All Eyes on The Judiciary’ concept which draws attention to the pending cases at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
A statement by the Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, which confirmed the dissolution of the panel, said the Council also suspended its Director and Deputy Director in charge of Regulations to allow investigation to be carried out on the issue.
The statement further said “The attention of the ARCON has been drawn to the “All Eyes on the Judiciary” advertisements exposed on some billboards across the country.
“The Advertising Standards Panel of the Council also erred in the approval of one of the concepts as the advertisement failed to vet guidelines on the following grounds:
“The cause forming the central theme of the campaign in the advertisement is a matter pending before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Hence, it’s Jus pendis.
“A matter being jus pendis and awaiting judicial pronouncement is, by virtue of the Nigerian legal system, precluded from being a subject of public statement, debate, discussion, advertisement, etc.
“The advertisement is controversial and capable of instigating public unrest and breach of public peace.
“The advertisement is considered blackmail against the Nigerian Judiciary, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and particularly the Honourable Justices of the Tribunal who are expected to discharge their judicial functions without fear or favour over a matter that is currently jus pendis.”
The ARCON DG said the Council would set up a committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the “erroneous approval” of one of the concepts of the advert and the breach of the vetting guidelines.
“Consequently, the Director and Deputy Director, Regulations have also been suspended. The suspension is to enable an unprejudiced investigation of the issue. The Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) Secretariat failing to diligently exercise its function as the gatekeeper of advertising, advertisement, and marketing communications is hereby dissolved,” he said.
What followed was the destruction and removal of the billboards carrying the advert in the Federal Capital Territory.
In its reaction, the sponsors of the billboards, through UC Maxwell, said that they would not be cowed or intimidated, insisting that free speech was a constitutional right of every Nigerian.
“We consider this attempt as a violation of the rights of citizens to freedom of expression and the press as guaranteed under Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as altered. Responding to the Four (4) outlines in the said Memo, we respond as follows.
“The central theme of the billboard ‘All Eyes on The Judiciary’ is not a matter before the court. The issues before the court are as they relate to the presidential election held in February 2023 and do not in any way affect the citizen’s duty to keep track of the exercise of governmental powers as provided for by the Constitution.
“Of the many issues for determination before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and various Election Tribunals in Nigeria, the petitioners and respondents to the suits before the various tribunals did not present ‘All Eyes on The Judiciary’ as an issue for determination.
“The call on Nigerians to be committed to holding the government accountable through the ‘All Eyes On The Judiciary’ theme does not in any way instigate the breach of public peace. The duty to criticise government officials and hold them accountable is established by law. It is instructive to note vehemently that the only thing that can and in fact will instigate public unrest and breach of public peace is where the government through any of its arms, particularly the Judiciary manifests grave injustice against the people.
“The Nigerian people will not accept the deliberate attempt to regard their duty of holding government officials accountable as blackmail. We consider this attempt as cheap blackmail in itself that will be resisted in all its forms. We must remind ARCON that it has an obligation under Section 22 of the Constitution to uphold the fundamental objectives of the Constitution and ‘uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people’.
Atiku also reacted to the destruction of the billboards in strategic locations in the Federal Capital Territory drawing public attention to the judiciary as Nigerians await the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, saying that the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government cannot remove public eyes from the judiciary.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu in Abuja on Tuesday, Atiku said public eyes can’t be removed from the judiciary handling the election petitions.
He described the destruction of the billboards as a clear evidence of “President Bola Tinubu’s authoritarianism and assault on the freedom of speech.”
According to him, the directive by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria to pull down all billboards carrying the advert across Nigeria was totally uncalled for.
Shuaibu said the entire incident reinforced the argument that election cases in court ought to be completed before inauguration of elected officials.
He further wondered how messages like; ‘All Eyes on the Judiciary’ translates to a threat to society.
Shuaibu said that even arbiters of justice knew that all eyes were on them because of the historic nature of their assignment.
“The basic principle of social justice is about the people. The advertisers of the billboards only did what the norm is in civilized climes. It was the agents working to impress an interest that read meanings to that innocuous advert.
“Otherwise, it is a basic principle that eyes must be on the wheel of justice. Eyes must naturally be on the wheel of justice because when justice is delivered, it must be ‘seen’ to have been just!
“In any case, both Tinubu and the APC are before the same court. It is curious how they find this particular message upsetting. Anyway, even if they pull down the billboards, they can never stop all eyes from being on the judiciary at this historic time.”
“Tinubu has, once again, put his dictatorial tendency on public display. How has a simple message that says ‘All eyes are on the judiciary’ suddenly become offensive? This is a clear case of abuse of office and reinforces the argument that court cases ought to be concluded before inauguration so that beneficiaries of fraudulent elections would not be able to manipulate the system in their favour.
“Billboards are used in displaying educational messages. Is there any offence in alerting Nigerians to the fact that all eyes should indeed be on the judiciary? In any case, is there any Nigerian that does not know that the judiciary is hearing the case challenging Tinubu’s fraudulent victory? Even the justices themselves are aware that all eyes are on them because of the historic assignment that they are saddled with. If Tinubu had nothing to hide, why would he be afraid of such a message?
Shaibu said it was ironic that “Tinubu claimed to be a democrat and even boasted of funding the June 12 struggle only for him to transform into an intolerant authoritarian after the election.”
Also in another development, political watchers and political analysts have reacted to the visit of Atiku to the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP) Presidential Candidate, Engr. Rabiu Kwankwaso’s residence in Abuja on Tuesday.
Though the purpose or agenda of the meeting was not made public; Atiku and Kwankwaso are known political rivals, a development that suggests that the meeting might be convened to close ranks and have a formidable opposition against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by President Bola Tinubu.
In fact, some are of the opinion that it is the coming together of two great politicians ahead of the verdict of the Presidential Election Tribunal.
At the February 25 presidential election won by Tinubu, an outcome which is currently being disputed by Atiku and another opposition candidate, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) before the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC), Kwankwaso took the distant fourth position after Atiku and Obi, who trailed Tinubu respectively.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
