OPINION: Is Atiku Abubakar Really Coming?

👤 By Adenike Lucas, DENISAURUS News

I have worked in a gambling shop before. While I was there, I meet a Nigerian man, who spent 3,000 pounds on the FOBT (Fixed-odds betting terminals) machines in one day.

The man did not loose the money in one go. He began by betting little monies, like £100. He was loosing so badly, that by 8pm he had lost £2,000.

However, he was determined to chase the money and get it back. He kept putting more money, and by closing time, he had lost in total £3,000.

Everyone felt sorry for him, but there was nothing that could be done to help him. All that we staff members could do was offer him a free cup of tea!!!

The machines are designed to win. There are a few people that are lucky to defeat the machines once or twice, but in the long run the system still beats them.

I witnessed a few individual who got lucky and how they handled it. Like, there was a time when the machine smiled at a man by giving him a £250 win from a £1 spin. He felt so confident, he decided to stake a bigger bet, and he lost the £250 he won immediately.

How does this even happen? Why did not he stop after loosing the first £50 or £100? Is there a problem with the man for insisting on winning or is the system being manipulated in a way unfavourable to this unlucky man?

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The political situation Atiku Abubakar has found himself, is very similar to the position of the man who lost the £3,000. He might deserve to have won the February elections, but the problem is the political system in Nigeria, is dysfunctional.

I mean, a judge said Mohammed and Muhammed are the same and when the petitioner argued that the President, who has never produced his certificate, has not obtained the right qualification to attain the highest position in the land, the Tribunal disagreed, saying: “in effect, the 2nd defendant went through secondary education and then proceeded to military school.”

“The military school is higher than secondary education,” says the tribunal.

The Tribunal added that “the onus rests squarely on the petitioners to prove their assertion that the 2nd respondent does not possess the educational qualification to contest the election or that he submitted false information which is fundamental in nature to aid his qualification.

“This I have mentioned that the petitioners failed to prove. The petitioners cannot, therefore, rely on any failure in the case.”

According to the Tribunal, one does not need to present their certificate. An affidavit will do! This ruling proves the point of the dysfunctional system we now have in Nigeria.

Also, despite the pictorial evidence of over voting, the tribunal stated that “card reader machine has not replaced the voter register. A petitioner must rely on the card reader to prove non-accreditation or over voting.”

Some argue that the PEPT could not do anything, other than to rubber stamp the results of the 2019 elections.

If this be the case, then legislative and judiciary are now in a cowed position. The Executive has all the power in its hand. That is problematic!

The ruling given by Justice Garba will be upsetting to those who see Nigeria has a democratic state. For some Nigerians, it should be fought head on.

A staunch PDP member, Demola Olanrewaju noted the strangeness of the ruling, stating that it “can not stand the test of Justice.”

“When a Judge then becomes the one making the argument that “Livy/Livinus” is equal to “Mohamed/Muhammadu” – something even the other side didn’t think to point out – then we know that the judgement is strange and cannot stand the test of Justice or Democracy for the People.”

The judgement might be “strange,” but what can Nigerians do about it. Over 86.9 million Nigerians now living in extreme poverty already and things are expected to get tougher for them.

Nigeria is also the poverty capital of the world. An achievement it gained after the election of President Buhari.

And with the fight against corruption, the rating has slid to the negative.

The financial intelligence unit of Africa’s most populous country almost got expelled from Egmont, thanks to a “corrupt” anti-graft boss.

Ibrahim Mustafa Magu, who the Department of State Security describes as a “perennial offender” and a liability to the corruption fight remains in office, even his rejection by the Senate, the arm of government responsible for confirming nominees.

Nigeria now has amongst all problems, clear issues with separation of powers. The legislative can’t reject a nominee of the executive and the judiciary, who the DSS stormed the homes of some of its members might be too scared to perform its duties or give justice to the average Joe.

How can the judiciary fight corruption when it is no longer the last hope of the common man?

Corruption is killing Nigeria. This paper has reported exclusively about the malaise, yet President Muhamamadu Buhari in his rejig of the cabinet brought back those who have been accused of corruption.

Perhaps, Alhaji Atiku would have done better if given the opportunity to lead.

Even though many Nigerians were not expecting the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, a five man panel led by Mohammed Garba,to favour the former Nigerian Vice President. While some had expected it to be a 4-1, the eventual judgement in favour of President Buhari, was upheld by all the judges.

We will never know now, if Alhaji Atiku, 72, would have been a better option. Age is not on his side. By 2023, he will be 76. Nigeria needs a youthful president.

So, Alhaji Atiku plans to appeal this judgement at the Supreme Court, but the removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, days before the election and his replacement, Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, CFR, suggests that there would be no justice in this case.

Nigeria needs a reboot, Atiku was promising to do so, but it seem like everything is rigged against him. He might not be the one to reset Nigeria from the destruction that the President, who brought chains instead of the change he promised.

Adenike Lucas is the editor and publisher of DENISAURUS News.