Obi Should Quit Criticism, Congratulate Tinubu – SAN

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Wahab Shittu, has advised Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, to refrain from criticising President Bola Tinubu’s victory and instead extend his congratulations to him.

Shittu spoke hours after Obi faulted the October 26, 2023 judgment of the Supreme Court affirming Tinubu’s victory at the February 25, 2023 poll.

Obi said the apex court judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in the judiciary.

However, Shittu, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, said that every contest has a winner and a loser.

He suggested that Obi should be able to draw a parallel with sportsmanship and acknowledge that loss is an essential aspect of the game.

“In a contest, there must be a winner; there must also be a loser. As a sportsman, you should be able to accept defeat when you have lost. Mr. Peter Obi came not just second but third,” the senior lawyer said.

“He appealed to the Tribunal, he lost. He appealed again to the Supreme Court, he lost. I think what is required of him is to come out openly and congratulate the winner, that is how a democrat ought to behave.”

The Supreme Court had penultimate Thursday dismissed the appeals brought by Obi and his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

The apex court stated that concerns raised about fraud, violations of electoral law, and Tinubu’s eligibility to run for president lacked merit.

Shittu said that while every court judgement can be subject to criticism, such criticism should be based on the merits and justification of the judgment.

“Every judgement of a court of law can be criticized but the question is how do you criticize a judgement of a court of law? You can only criticize such a judgement on the index of justification,” he said.