Following the tribunal judgment in favour of President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has been made the butt of a joke.
“Atiku Abubakar is an elder statesman that I hold in very high esteem, and anybody who knows the social-cultural interaction between the Fulanis and the Kanuris in the North will know that I have the liberty to haul all insults at him, and he will bear,” said Mr Shettima, fielding questions after tribunal’s ruling.
“We are not going to retire him to Dubai or Morocco. I will retire him to Fombina. I will buy him goats, broilers and layers so that he can spend his days rearing goats and broilers, but on a joking side.”
The vice-president, however, said his statement was a joke.
“On a more serious note, he is an elder statesman. The nation needs him; experience is not something that you can buy in the marketplace. We will tap into his wealth of experience and exposure to catapult the nation to a higher level,” stated Mr Shettima.
Meanwhile, Mr Abubakar’s party, PDP, has rejected the tribunal ruling, describing it as a judgment against reason, facts and evidence.
“As a party, we have had an initial review of the judgment as delivered by the PEPC, and we unequivocally reject the said judgment in its entirety,” said PDP in a statement. “The judgment is against reason, against the facts and evidence presented in court, against the relevant electoral laws, guidelines and regulations, as well as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
Mr Shettima, Governors Yahaya Bello and Hope Uzodinma, and other governors and top government functionaries were in the court to witness the judgment.
They sat from the beginning of the court’s proceedings until about 10:00 p.m. when the court delivered the final judgment in the three petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.