Lagos — Few days after the celebration of Nigeria's 48th independence anniversary on October 1, President Umaru Yar'Adua and the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, fiercely engaged themselves in altercations that appears to heighten the tension that already exists in the nation's polity. Like a flash, Buhari and Yar'Adua threw jibes at each other apparently to score some political points. Indeed, the aftermathn of the celebration which ordinarily could have passed for moment of deep and sober reflections on the nation's developmental challenges was turned to a battlefield of sort by the duo's vituperations.

Buhari was the first to fire the political salvo at Yar'Adua. On Tuesday, October 2, while answering questions on a foreign radio station, the Katsina-born general said he would continue his case at the Supreme Court against President Yar'Adua because the President has not considered it right to either plead with him or even send emissaries to persuade him to drop the case.

To this end, Buhari said he had shunned pressures by the ANPP and some Northern leaders to withdraw his appeal at the Supreme Court since he was the candidate of seven other political parties during the 2007 presidential election. The fearless general said he sought the nullification of Yar'Adua's victory on the grounds of 'irregularities' and 'non-eligibility' of Yar'Adua to contest the election.

Buhari ,who claimed he was the presidential candidate of thePeople's Redemption Party (PRP), People's Salvation Party (PSP), Nigerian Advanced Party (NAP), National Conscience Party (NCP) and a faction of the Action Congress (AC) headed by Chief Olu Falae, a former presidential candidate of All Nigeria Party (APP) in 1999 election, said he joined politics in order to fight the cause of the downtrodden and will continue to soldier on until the powers that be recognizes the rights of the people.

"Therefore, whether they vote for me as President or not, whether they allow them to vote for me or not, they will not stop me from participating in active politics.

"These seven parties which gave me their mandate to be their flag bearer actually had their congresses, conventions and primaries before the 2007 and they decided not to field any presidential candidate apart from me. They said Buhari is our sole presidential candidate we would not bring out any flag bearer for the presidential race.

"Therefore, if they pack the Northerners to plead with me to withdraw the suit, they are not alone because there are other people from other parts of the country; there are people from all over the country. Therefore, I told them that if I have taken decision on the matter, I will look for them," Buhari further explained.

Continuing, Buhari said "He (Yar'Adua) has never called me; and he has never sent anybody to me to plead with me to withdraw the suit against him," adding that the Court of Appeal which handled the case, ignored all the legal, oral and documentary evidence placed before it which he said could have helped his matter.

According to him, election results and other electoral documents from 29 out of the 36 states in Nigeria were tendered and admitted.

"We submit that it is because the court had totally neglected to evaluate all the evidence put before it by the petitioner in proof of his case that the court had come to the rather bizarre conclusion that petitioner had presented no evidence upon which the court could found a decision in petitioner's favour,"Buhari lamented.

Yar'Adua did not take kindly to Buhari's claims. On Thursday, October 3 Yar'Adua fired back at Buhari saying he did not deem it fit to reach out to Buhari because he was not only swimming against the tide but he(Buhari) has a weak case pending before the Supreme Court.

Yar'Adua ,in a statement issued on his behalf by his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, said he was waiting for the conclusion of the case before he could approach Buhari. Yar'Adua said reaching out to Buhari now could be misconstrued by political opponents since the case Buhari instituted against him in the Supreme Court has not been concluded.

"It is true that President Yar'Adua has not reached out to Maj.-Gen. Buhari but that is largely out of respect that the general is exploring all the available legal and democratic channels as well as his own abiding belief in the rule of law.

"Since the general is in court challenging the results of the presidential election which he lost, the President is of the opinion that any overtures could be misconstrued so he would rather want the judicial process completed before reaching out to the ANPP candidate," Yar'Adua said.

The President further said for effect that "from all indications, the general has a rather weak case in court, which, if what we read in the media is correct, may not even enjoy the backing of his own political party.

"So in effect, the general is swimming against the tide as far as this case is concerned,"he said.

Rather than writing Buhari off completely, Yar'Adua still expressed belief that he still has steam to contribute to his government in particular and Nigerians generally.

"The President will be very willing to invite Buhari to join the government in the task of building a greater Nigeria, once the Supreme Court finally validates his mandate.

"I am sure the Supreme Court will soon give a final seal on the whole electoral matter and the President is confident he would win after which he will then reach out to Buhari to join him in the task of moving Nigeria forward.

"As a former leader reputed for his integrity, Gen. Buhari definitely has a lot to still contribute to our nation and I am sure President Yar'Adua would not hesitate to reach out to him once the case at the Supreme Court is won and lost,"he noted.

Reacting to Yar'Adua's comment that Buhari has a weak case against in the Supreme Court, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) described it as subjudice of the highest order and serious contempt of the court which is at variance with the rule of law mantra of the Yar'Adua's administration.

CNPP, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu noted that Yar'Adua had not only interfered with the court process, but delivered judgment before the Supreme Court adjucates in the case. _

"To add salt to injury, the spokesman of the President went on to boast that President Yar'Adua is confident of winning the case and we ask on which premise is the confidence predicated. Is it on the compromise deal or evidence that the 2007 presidential election was not characterised by non-compliance and corrupt practices?

"For it is on record that President Yar'Adua in league with both local and international observers confirmed that the 2007 presidential election was substantially flawed. We recall that it was the imperfect nature of the 2007 presidential and other elections that made President Yar'Adua to set up the Electoral Reform Committee.

"We then ask, why did President Yar'Adua talk in June 2007 with General Buhari's vice-presidential candidate, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, who was then in court with General Buhari and the ANPP? Was the poaching of Chief Ume-Ezeoke meant to weaken General Buhari's case as insinuated?", CNPP queried.

Where does the face-off between the duo take us? Stakeholders believe that rather than hitting up the polity by their utterances, actions and inactions, Yar'Adua and Buhari should for the sake of peace , tranquility and national cohesion refrain from making comments on a case that is pending before the highest court in the land. Because by their acts and actions, other cases pending before the tribunals and Appeal Court may be jeopardized. It is in this light that stakeholders believe the two leaders should maintain their peace until the case before the Supreme Court is conclusively dispensed of.