— It’s revalidation of peoples’s  mandate – Akume

—We’ll now move ahead with governance- Alia

–Verdict history, beauty of democracy – Sanwoolu

–Our jurisprudence enriched – Bello

–Judgement has ended all shenanigans, rumours on social media – Abiodun 

–No victor, no vanquished – Senator Musa

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

Speaker of House of the Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday told the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, presidential candidate in the February 25 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party, LP, candidate, Peter Obi to take heart following the Supreme Court the final verdict pronounced by the Supreme Court on the winner of the election.

This is as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, the Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia among others have hailed the Supreme Court judgement that upheld the victory of President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking to State House correspondents after the apex court judgement at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Speaker said the judgement was not unexpected.

According to him, “To God be the glory. It is not something unexpected, it is something that we have been waiting for. We know ultimately, what we heard today is what is going to be said but the fact that it has come at this early hours, we have nothing to say but to say thank God for Nigeria. Thank God for all the good people of Nigeria who prayed for this particular day for this historic victory.

“I think this time around, after this pronouncement, we have no excuse, but to go back to business as usual, to go back and reset our agenda and see what we can do for the people of Nigeria for the next three and a half or four years.”

Asked about his message to the opposition, Abba said: “They should take heart, there is always one victor at a time, this is Asiwaju’s time, they should all take heart, come and join hands with him so that we move Nigeria to a greater level.”

Also speaking, Secretary to the Government if the Federation (SGF), George Akume, also hailed the Supreme Court judgment.

Akume said: “It is a revalidation of the mandate which the Nigerian people gave him and our electoral process also involves the judicial process. The people spoke loud and clear, some people were aggrieved, reasons they went to the court to the judiciary

“The highest court, the Supreme Court spoke loud and clear that that mandate was freely given. That is what we want in this country.

“We want stability, we don’t want distraction, the President has taken off beautifully and he has the interest of the people at heart. So far the choices he’s making are tough but at the end of the day, they will make for a better tomorrow so we are very happy about what has happened today, Nigerians are celebrating.”

In his reaction, Benue State Governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia,  described the judgement as quite exciting “because now we are going to move ahead I know that our President has great plans for the nation and particularly in my State.

“I will not want us to miss out on that at all, his victory is not just a victory for the nation but those of us who are not on the same page for growth and development as it is intending, it is a larger victory for all of us.

“These are people who are meticulous with the books. Today is a blessing for Nigeria that our sitting President carries the day.”

To the opposition parties, Alia advised,  “Please let us all join hands with him (Tinubu) to take our nation to higher heights because he is not just the potential he has already started exhibiting what will bring our further growth.”

Lagos State Governor Babajide  Sanwoolu described the verdict as historic and the beauty of democracy.

He said, “it’s a beauty of the power of inclusiveness in governance where every body would have an opportunity to express themselves at the highest level and as a people that is run and governed by a constitution, we all need to abide by this constitution.

“The highest judicial body in our country has expressed themselves very clearly, there were no descending voices there were seven of them that were on the same page.

“That tells us that whatever might have been the differences let us put it behind us, it is a victory for all. I am sure the President must have alluded to that, what we need to now is clear governance.

“We must have a clear direction on how to get all hands on deck to get the economy of Nigeria on track, let us put whatever differences, political or otherwise and let us rally around this administration for the benefit of Nigerians because at the end of the day.

“We all want food on our table, we all want good roads, the food is not for a particular party, the road is not for a particular party it is for all Nigerians and that should be our concept going forward, all that is behind us and I can imagine that he has also run as much as possible an inclusive sense of government.

“I want to wish Mr President all the best, I want to congratulate the judiciary and all of us and say to every Nigerian that it is time for us to roll our sleeves.”

Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, on his part said the verdict has enriched the country’s jurisprudence.

He said: “Let me use this opportunity to congratulate Mr President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but more importantly, let me congratulate all Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora. At the same time, I congratulate even the opposition political parties.

“This decision of today of the erudite jurists has further enriched our jurisprudence and it is crystal clear to all Nigerians that our President won this election free and fair.

“I also congratulate INEC for a job well done, it couldn’t have been better than this at this time, even though there are areas of improvement, but I congratulate them for taking their time painstakingly to do a good job that has affirmed today by the highest court in the land.

“I congratulate all of us and like I admonished earlier, the opposition should just sheath their sword, and support the government of the day. If Mr President succeeds, it is Nigerians that succeed and we are praying and working hard that Mr President should succeed because when a leader succeeds, it touches on all the followers.

“We’re praying for Mr President to succeed so that he can deliver the dividends of democracy to all Nigerians and Nigeria on the path of the Renewed Hope that he promised us earlier.”

Asked about INEC’s reputation ahead of Kogi’s election next month he said: “INEC’s reputation is never in question or doubt at all. All the jobs they have done have been affirmed by the Supreme Court today and I’m confident that in the Kogi election, more successes will be recorded by INEC, by the good people of Kogi state and of course, APC is posed to win with landslide and massive votes in the upcoming election, based on our performance and the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.

“Kogites cannot wait to be part of that agenda, to be part of that success story at the end of the day. So, Kogites have resolved unanimously to vote for APC in the coming governorship election.”

Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, said the verdict puts to rest all the shenanigans and all the rumours and all the different stories and speculations in the media.

He said: “I had the privilege of being in court and we were not surprised because the Appeal Court had laid the foundation of today’s ruling. The Appeal Court ruled and the five judges at the Appeal Court were unanimous, it was a very meticulous, painstaking judgement that took well over twelve hours. The Appeal Court dealt with every point and I believe that was the foundation of today’s judgement.

“The Supreme Court, the final court, that is the bastion of hope for the common man, today affirmed the ruling of the Appeal Court and that puts to rest all the shenanigans and all the rumours and all the different stories and speculations in the media.

“I want to thank the almighty God first for this ruling and for further validating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory. I want to thank the judiciary particularly for upholding the rule of law because what they did today was being observed worldwide and it speaks to the fact that in Nigeria we’re guided by the rule of law and that the Supreme Court is a Supreme Court that compares to any Supreme Court anywhere in the world.

“They’ve dispensed with this case, they’ve done so in line with global best practices and there’s no doubt left in anybody’s mind that there’s now a closure. Our opponents can now go to sleep or they can now congratulate our President and if they did mean well for our country, you aspired to an office with the belief that you can offer the country the representation that it deserves, but it must not be a do-or-die. If that opportunity does not present itself for you now and the courts and people have chosen who they want, if you do mean well for the country, what you need to do is congratulate that person, join hands with that person to ensure that what you want to do is achieved, that the common man gets the best of governance.

“Our President can now be focused on the task of governance, all the distractions are behind him, and he has a lot of work to do. He’s assumed this office at a time when audacious and bold decisions have to be made, which he has made them, he now has to keep his eyes on the ball and continue with his plans in line with his Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Furthermore and more importantly, by this judgement, the Supreme Court has also put to rest a lot of issues that will now become precedents in law. I’m sure that some other cases where either appeals have been filed at the appellate level or the Supreme Court, will probably be withdrawn because the Supreme Court has

Is victory is for all – Sen Sani Musa

Also reacting to the Supreme Court judgement, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, enjoined opposition parties that challenged President Tinubu’s victory in court to see the Supreme Court affirmation as a victory for everyone, including them.

He said the opposition should regard the development as case of “no victor, no vanquished”.

“My message to the opposition is they should take this victory as a victory for all of us, including them because what it is, there is no victor and no vanquished.

“Since the Supreme Court has decided and is the highest echelon of judiciary in this country and they have decided, though one of them (defeated candidate) said he’s appealing to God, we are all appealing to them to go for the right direction, where prosperity and hope will be renewed for all of us”, he said.

He stressed that those who were not able to take the defeat decided to go to the court, which is constitutional, and “what they did is the right thing”.

“Everything has been exhausted now, and the Supreme Court made it clear that the winner has emerged, and that the winner and president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the person of His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is going to be the president of this country until 2027.

“After 2027 there will be another election. And if he wins again, he’s going to be the president of Nigeria. So what his opponents did by going to the court is the right thing, and for the peace and stability of this country, all the judicial issue has been exhausted now, and it is now time for governance.

“I believe that with the Renewed Hope Agenda, eight cardinal points of Mr. President, this country has seen a renewed hope. And I believe that even in my position as chairman of, Finance Committee, I have seen some of the policies of this government, which of course, we have been expecting that a bold leader should do, and that is what the president has done.

“And I believe, within a very short time, we will start seeing what have been drawn up. You know Mr. President, has been in this for a very, very long time. And he has been well prepared and ready to administer this country.”