THE court has always been the last  hope of the common man and in any democratic society the judiciary is the arbiter and adjudicates on any dispute between parties.  At the end of the last gubernatorial elections in Edo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,  declared, the All Progressives Congress, APC,   candidate, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, winner of the election.

Since his declaration, so many Edo people have congratulated him and his deputy, Philip Shaibu for their victory at the polls.  Even some gubernatorial candidates who contested the election with him and lost have since conceded victory and gone ahead to congratulate him. That is how it ought to be.

But the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is challenging  its defeat at the Edo State Election Petition tribunal. This is also not  out of place. Aggrieved candidates under the Electoral Act have the right to seek redress. But they are not to go to the tribunal to beat up the judges and lawyers to get a mandate. If a political party mobilises its supporters to the election petition tribunal where the judges and jury are  to hear the submissions following the  petitions  submitted and unleash brigandage on the tribunal then it leaves room for anarchy.

Last week, Edo people were stunned with the level of barbarism displayed at the Edo State Election Petition tribunal  by PDP youths who threw caution to the winds and  unleashed  mayhem on the tribunal attacking supporters of the APC who were left with no option but to defend themselves even as the police was reportedly overwhelmed. At the end of the day, three persons were said to  have been  hospitalised. The three persons were said  to have had  their heads broken with bottles  when the PDP besieged the tribunal   singing war songs.

During the sitting, the tribunal chairman, Justice Ahmed Badamasi  after listening to the parties, ruled that the petitioners  must file their applications latest 3pm on Saturday 3rd December 2016 while the respondents must file their responses latest  7pm  Monday 5th December2016  and adjourned   further sitting to December 7.

It was not long when the PDP thugs invaded the tribunal premises and unleashed mayhem on supporters of the APC  to the chagrin of all who had come to witness the day’s proceedings. Sadly, too, the PDP supporters who attacked the APC  members were the first to rush to television stations to accuse the APC of being the  aggressor.

Why in the widest imagination of any right thinking man believe that the APC that has secured victory will be the one to attack anybody? It is on record that all through the electioneering, the APC had maintained a gentleman approach to winning the election.

It is wrong for the PDP supporters to attack the APC supporters because at the end of the day those innocent youth whose heads were broken are Edo people. It is also important to caution parents to call their sons and wards to order because in a rowdy atmosphere such as was witnessed at the election petition tribunal, anybody could be a victim. Conflict does nobody any good and the PDP must understand that they do not have monopoly of violence.

The PDP must know that there is no amount of violence  perpetrate  that could ever  force the tribunal to give judgment in their favour. What will inform the tribunal judgment is the evidence before the eminent judges. The judges cannot be intimidated or coarse into delivering wrong judgment.

It is equally important to note that the tribunal reserves the right to relocate to a more conducive environment if the PDP wants  to make the tribunal premises not conducive  for its sitting. They must also know that election is not a do or die affair. You can no longer achieve political leadership in Nigeria or in any part of Africa by brute force.

Mr. Dan Owegie, a chieftain of the APC, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.