APC denies Tinubu, CJN’s phone call on presidential rerun

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has debunked a report that President Bola Tinubu had a telephone conversation with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, telling the number one citizen to prepare for a presidential election rerun.

The APC, while reacting to a tweet by one Jackson Ude, described the alleged telephone conversation between Tinubu and the CJN as false.

The National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, Felix Morka, who said this in a statement issued on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, stressed that it “is disturbing and disgraceful for Mr Ude to fabricate a falsehood of this kind on a matter of serious national importance that is actively under review by the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC).”

Morka added: “President Tinubu and our Party won the last Presidential election without a doubt, and do not have any need to engage in side conversations with the CJN regarding pending petitions before the PEPC.

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“As the core democrat that he is, the President respects the right of aggrieved candidates in the election to seek redress for any grievances that they may have. The Constitution and Electoral Act provide effective guarantees of that right.

“The PEPC should be afforded the time and space to perform its important constitutional and statutory duty of adjudicating and delivering a verdict in the matter without needlessly calling the integrity of our Judges into question.

“Falsehood and conjecture by the likes of Mr. Ude only aim to inflame political passions, create doubt and panic, and peremptorily undermine the verdict of the Courts in this important matter.

“We are confident that Nigerians are smarter and more discerning than to be affected by this opposition brand of tasteless and crass mercenary expedition.”

The Star