The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hinted that it may approach the court to determine if the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate’s participation in the 2023 election will not violate the Constitution and Electoral Act in light of the recent receipt of a certified true copy of the order to forfeit $460,000 imposed by a United States court on the account linked to the APC presidential candidate.
Debo Ologunagba, the national publicity secretary of the main opposition party, revealed that the group is keeping all of its options open during a news conference on the subject on Sunday in Abuja.
When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) attempted to remove itself from the case that originated from a court in Chicago, Illinois, the party spokesman was asked if the party would go to court if the electoral body failed to take action.
Ologunagba said, explicitly referring to a potential legal challenge: “Everything is on the table. I shall thus leave it as is.
He disproved the claim that a court in the United States lacks jurisdiction by pointing out that nations are urged to domesticate international agreements, of which Nigeria is a signatory, and that this has resulted in local laws, such as the one against money laundering.
The second of these is drug trafficking. Because they have been domesticated and are international conventions, the NDLEA and other government agencies are responsible for upholding them.
“Those acts are referred to as international crimes, which every UN member state is required to adhere to by signing on to.
Furthermore, our constitution is very explicit on this point. It refers to a court or tribunal in Nigeria and states that it would be “by any court or any other court,” which, in accordance with my understanding and the constitution as a whole, means any court that complies with those international treaties and crimes against humanity.
We’ll investigate it, and we’ll take whatever action is necessary to be appropriate. Every option is on the table, as I stated to you, he added as he read from the court’s proceedings an indictment was suggested.
The PDP spokesman earlier read from a prepared text and stated: “It is no longer news that the Presidential Candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is irredeemably and hopelessly ineligible to contest the February 2023 Presidential election having reportedly been indicted and subject to criminal forfeiture judgment for a narcotic related offense by a United States Court in Northern Illinois.