Election petitions are not won on social media platforms, according to Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
During an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Wike stated that the opposition parties “don’t have a case” against President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 election.
The tribunal upheld Tinubu’s election victory on Wednesday.
The tribunal ruled that the petitions filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi were “all devoid of merit.”
In response to the tribunal’s decision, the former Rivers governor praised the tribunal for “painstakingly” addressing issues raised in the petitions.
He said:
“I have always told people that election petition is not like any other case, It is a special area. It is not by propaganda”.
“It is not won on social media, and it is a presentation of evidence and facts. Not what you said to your supporters outside.
“I sat down for not less than 10 hours and to look at how the justices painstakingly took each item one by one. From the preliminary objections to the motions, down to the objections on documents and exhibits, down to substantial issues.”
Further, the FCT minister stated that the February presidential election was “tough,” and that Obi could not have won.
When asked to respond to the claim that he has influence over the judiciary, Wike joked that the judiciary was correct when Obi reclaimed his mandate as Anambra governor in 2006.
“Did Peter Obi not win at the supreme court when he was removed as governor? Did he pay bribe? Let him tell the world now,” he said.
“When he was removed as a governor, did he not reclaim his mandate at the supreme court? Judiciary was right but now that this (referring to the tribunal’s verdict) did not happen, judiciary is wrong.”
When he lost some of his cases in court, the former Rivers governor said he did not blame the judiciary.