By Uche Mbah
The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, is heading to the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling of the Presidential Election Tribunal, which ruled that President Muhammadu Buhari is duly elected.
Mike Ozhekhome, one of the learned silks that represented Atiku, insisted that they will Challenge the “misevaluation” of critical evidence in judgement.
“That we’re appealing to the Supreme Court is as certain as death,” Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and one of the main Counsels for Atiku Abubakar said.
The Election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja had confirmed president Muhammadu Buhari duly elected president of Nigeria in a landmark judgment that lasted for more than eight hours.
The court room was filled to the brim with lawyers, government officials and Party representatives.
But it is not all losses for Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, as the tribunal dismissed the submission of INEC that Atiku is not qualified to contest the election because he is a Cameroonian national. It also insisted that the lead counsel of the Atiku group, Livy Uzoukwu, is duly called to the Bar and is qualified to practice law in Nigeria.
The Peoples democratic Party confirmed their determination to go to the supreme court, calling the judgement “a subversion of Justice”.
Below is their reaction.
“September 11, 2019
Press Statement
Verdict, A Subversion of Justice, Says PDP…Heads To Supreme Court
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) completely rejects the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal describing it as provocative, barefaced subversion of justice and direct assault on the integrity of our nation’s justice system.
The party is particularly shocked that the tribunal failed to point to justice despite the flawless evidence laid before it, showing that President Buhari was not only unqualified to contest the election but also did not score the majority of valid votes at the polls.
The PDP finds as bewildering that a court of law could validate a clear case of perjury and declaration of false information in a sworn affidavit, as firmly established against President Muhammadu Buhari, even in the face of incontrovertible evidence.
The party is also rudely shocked that the Court took over the roles of the Respondents’ lawyers who clearly abandoned their pleadings by refusing to call evidence in defense of the petition. The court raked up all manner of excuses to make up for the yawning gaps occasioned by the total absence of any evidence from the Respondents.
Nigerians and the international community watched in utter disbelief when the tribunal ruled that one need not provide a copy or certified true copy of educational certificate such individual claimed to possess, contrary to established proof of claims of certification.
The party notes as strange that the court even went ahead to provide rationalizations in favour of President Buhari, even when all hard facts before it shows that he did not possess the claimed educational certificate and that the Army was not in possession of his WAEC certificate as claimed in the affidavit he deposed to in his Presidential nomination form.
The PDP also described as shocking that the court approved the flawed declaration of President Buhari as the winner of the election despite evidence to show the perpetration of illegalities, manipulations, alterations and subtraction of valid votes freely given to Atiku Abubakar by Nigerians.
Indeed, the pervading melancholic atmosphere across our nation since the verdict is a direct indication that the judgment has not fulfilled the desires and expectations of Nigerians.
The PDP however encouraged Nigerians to remain calm and not to lose hope or surrender to despondency or self-help, as our lawyers are upbeat in obtaining justice at the Supreme Court.
This is more so as the tribunal itself admitted that there are several errors in the judgment.
Signed:
Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary
