Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said voters, not courts, should choose Nigeria’s leaders, after a Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the emergence of the Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and all actions he has taken.
Obi, in a post on his X handle on Thursday, said he received the news with shock, describing it as unsettling and surprising.
He stressed that he does not challenge the ruling, noting that courts exist to settle disputes according to the law.
His concern, he said, is timing. With a general election three months away, certainty is in the public interest, and too many unknowns about candidates and parties a few weeks before a presidential poll are not good for the country.
Obi alleged that the instability is engineered by the ruling party, just as he claimed it did against him in the Labour Party.
He said the same approach continues to shrink civic space for a robust campaign, and that it comes from the same rulebook that manufactures violence against opposition campaigns.
He said one mark of democracy is that voters, not courts, choose leaders at all times.
He affirmed his trust in the judiciary and said that, as a public officer, he has shown deep respect for it.
He appealed for the integrity of democracy to be protected by not undermining the free and fair choice of candidates.
Obi added that Nigeria’s democracy, which has endured while military rule encroaches in parts of West Africa, should strengthen the resolve to protect opposition politics rather than stamp out opposition parties.
Because opposition is vital to sustaining democracy, he said, he has always promised that as President he would take a special interest in keeping opposition parties stable and thriving, and in ensuring opposition candidates are not persecuted out of electoral contests.
“This is a time to strengthen our democracy by allowing the opposition to thrive,” he said.
