There are so much more that Nigerians  would have learnt from the PEPT proceedings and Judgement expected today.

Not even the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999, after years of military misrule, got Nigerians as excited and involved as the 2023 General election.

For the first time, the states and FCT were shared equally by 3 three Presidential candidates.

Since 1999, no other court case or electoral tribunal has got people’s attention as the one that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal is expected to deliver today, Wednesday September 6, 2023.

During court process, some parties applied to court to allow the court proceedings be televised. This would have allowed the millions of Nigerians who voted   to participate in how the issues were presented and depended; how the judges entertained the cases.

I believe that there’s no better education method than an experiential one. That’s, one where we are involved. Watching the proceeding would have served Nigerians a lot. The citizens would be better enlightened.

The court denied Nigerians  that opportunity. They argued that court is not a place for entertainment.

They forgot that many nations have televised their PEPT proceedings.

Now, they turned around announcing that the PEPT Judgement would be televised. A questioning mind like mine would easily point out that by this reversal, they’ve read the room that people want to protest should they misinterpret the constitution. They want people to sit at home and watch on TV.

In the days building up to the sudden announcement of today for the PEPT Judgement, some prominent persons and popular pastors came out to charge people to “MOVE ON”.
And not threaten the unity of the nation, and that the unity of the nation is far much more important that who is the president or how someone becomes the president.

Whatever the judges pronounce, such persons gaslighting others do understand that the person making the 2023 election and PEPT popular  is Peter Obi. Aside his frugality, his winning similar Electoral Petition Tribunal for Anambra governorship, the first in Nigeria, is the major reason for the #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary.

Two, PEPT has sacked presidents in recent history in Africa.

In 2017 in Kenya , Court declared President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election null and void despite some international observers’ rating of the election as free and fair.

In 2019, Malawi  cancelled former president Peter Mutharika’s reelection and ordered a rerun. Mutharika lost the rerun to Lazarus Chakwera.

It has happened in Maldives ,  Russia ,  and Austria .

National unity is not a pleading course.

At the end, the Judgement rests on the PEPT justices.

Any party aggrieved by their judgement,  still has the Supreme Court to appeal to.

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I remain Ndụka Odo, an experienced multimedia practitioner and educator using media and technology to empower people and businesses.