Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has rejected the ruling of the Appeal Court which affirmed the verdict of the Lagos State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was the winner of the April 11 governorship election in the state. The PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, described the ruling as a miscarriage of justice, adding that the party might head to the Supreme Court soon.
Gani said the court focused on the technicalities of the petition rather than the merits. He said:
“The Appeal Court has given a confusing and controversial judgment. The panel of justices agreed that it was wrong of the tribunal to have dismissed the PDP’s petition and not considering the fact that Ambode was not qualified, going by the Electoral Act.
“The ruling is confusing and controversial because the court should have gone into the merits of the petition and not the technicalities. To us, the victory of the APC is based on a mere judicial decision and they cannot boastfully celebrate this decision. It is our conviction that it was a miscarriage of justice”.
“We are considering further actions like the Supreme Court but in the meantime, we will go back to the drawing board in order to increase our popularity in Lagos. We say that Governor Ambode and the APC have a date with posterity as far as elections are concerned in Lagos State.”
The APC Publicity Secretary in the state, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, however, commended the ruling of the appellate court. Igbokwe said in a statement that the ruling had dealt a deadly blow to the PDP. He said:
“The Lagos PDP has never posed any serious threat to the AD, AC, ACN, or APC in Lagos in the past 16 years because Lagosians have never considered the party as a serious alternative. To them, Lagos is too important in Nigeria to be left in the hands of apprentices and learners.”
“While APC leaders and supporters were busy campaigning all over Lagos, the Lagos PDP and its leaders were busy plotting with former President Goodluck Jonathan how to steal Lagos votes by any means possible, including the use of brute force and intimidation.”