Pro- Buhari Igbo Group Hails Tribunal Judgment, Demands Improved Infrastructure in Southeast

 

The Zikist-Buharist-Movement (ZBM) in the Southeast on Sunday congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his electoral victory at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, describing it as a triumph of democracy.

Recall that Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had after the last presidential election, filed a petition challenging Buhari’s victory at the February 23, 2019 poll.

He alleged that the polling was marked by irregularities and that he had received the most votes as shown on the central server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

But delivering its judgement last Wednesday, the Tribunal dismissed the petition filed by Atiku and the PDP comparing the evidence provided by the former Vice- President to “a drop in the ocean.

Reacting to Buhari’s victory in a statement made available to journalists in Enugu, the group, through its Chairman, Stanley Ohajuruka,  praised the “thoroughness and diligence of the tribunal in handling the petition.”

The group said it was surprising why senior lawyers of the PDP relied “heavily and inadvertently” on a server which according to them, was unknown to the Electoral Act 2010 and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended; hence neglecting the ancient position of jurisprudence and trite law that you cannot build something out of nothing.

The group insisted that Buhari attended Katsina Provincial College, Mons Officer Military Cadet Academy in Aldershot, England and was a former Head of State and as such, he met the fine conditions of qualification intended by the spirit and letters of our constitution and extant laws to contest for the presidential election.

The group also  urged the president to urgently address the dilapidated Federal roads in the South East,  the 2nd Niger Bridge, Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railways line, the none existence of gas pipelines in the region, especially Nnewi industrial zone, as well as revamp Enugu Coal.

“Your excellency, your remaining four years is important to us and because of the trust the international investors and lenders have on you, due to your uncommon integrity quotient; we plead that South East is adequately considered to avoid the exodus of our youths to South Africa and other countries” the group said.

The group advised the entire Igbo nation to likewise congratulate the President for his well-deserved victory as they wait for the turn of the South East geopolitical zone in 2023.