The United States government has expressed concern over the recent tribunal decision on the Edo State governorship election.
The U.S. Mission in Nigeria said the ruling may have come from a process with problems.
In a message posted on the official X account of the U.S. Embassy on Friday, the diplomatic office said there were “serious lapses in the collation process” during the election. They added that civil society groups and election observers are also worried about these issues.
“Ambassador Mills reiterates his statement of September 24 that transparency and due process are crucial to maintaining public confidence in any democratic system.
“The United States reaffirms our commitment to supporting free, fair, transparent, and credible elections in Nigeria and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” the statement said.
There have been complaints following the September 21 governorship election in Edo. Some stakeholders have accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of election malpractice.
The election tribunal, which sat in Abuja, confirmed on Wednesday that APC candidate Monday Okpebholo won the election. It dismissed the case filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for lack of enough evidence.
The three judges, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, said Okpebholo received the highest number of valid votes and was properly elected.
It can be recalled that a day before the tribunal gave its judgment, a copy of the ruling was leaked online. The leaked version, like the final judgment, also favoured the APC and its candidate.
Is Nigeria a federation state in the USA?
It’s very unfortunate that we have come to this state as transparency, fairness, justice and every aspect of truth no longer exist under the APC government right from the onset. May God Almighty help us at this time, Amen!
What a shame so US government will now decide on our rules if law, can Nigeria government intervene in their own rule of law ogun kill US
Nigeria judicial system is completely corrupted by the executive arms of government, this judgement connote was our brother Dale farotimi have been saying concerning the judiciary.
The Nigerian Judiciary has been seriously infiltrated, corrupted and compromised by politicians especially those of the present ruling party in so much that they longer take concrete evidences into consideration but use technicalities which in actual are very insignificant compared with hard evidences.
The Nigerian Bar Association and the National Judicial Commission should try to restore credibility to the Nigerian judiciary in the interest of good Nigerians yet to be burn. They are on their way and would be ruthless if they meet the Nigerian judiciary in its present state.
The judiciary is dead and will be buried by 2027. The executive arm of govt made sure they were killed quickly so that their criminal activities would be always successful.
When the head is sick, it affects the whole body. If the leader entered his office with similar scenario, what else do we expect?