[News] LP chieftain says Obi appealing tribunal judgment is an exercise in futility

The coordinator of the 2023 Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council in Ekiti State, Moses Jolayemi, has said that Peter Obi’s attempt to appeal the tribunal ruling at the Supreme Court is an exercise in futility.

Jolayemi, who defected to Labour Party after serving as the chairman of Segun Oni’s media team when he contested the election on the platform of the Social Democratic Party, previously said that the Independent National Electoral Commission did not conduct a credible election in 2023.

However, speaking to Punch about Obi appealing the tribunal ruling at the Supreme Court, Jolayemi said the judgement delivered by the tribunal has been described as “very good” by analysts and he believes Obi’s attempt to appeal will be futile.

He told the publication: “I do not think that he is going to pull through at the Supreme Court or wherever.

“Senior advocates, analysts and enlightened people have all looked at the judgment and it was described as very good. I do not see how far he can go.

“If you say a mandate is stolen, the onus is on you to prove it, and not only proving it, you have to prove it beyond reasonable and possibly unreasonable doubt.

“The reality is that the President is installed and it is even more difficult now. From what we hear, he (Obi) was not able to prove his case convincingly. Your party won in a polling unit, you must have the result to show for that claim. It is not all about talking. The judges are also on social media, but they are concerned with facts and what is presented before them, not what is on social media or the interest of the people.

“For me, I do not see this case going further because I do not know anything new that they want to plead at the Supreme Court; I consider it an exercise in futility.”