Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has rejected the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court. Atiku, who is no stranger to legal battles, has asked his lawyers to file an appeal at the Supreme Court (PEPC).
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi had earlier said he would appeal the judgement of the PEPC.
At a press conference held at the party’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku, who was the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 25th February polls, said he challenged President Bola Tinubu’s victory at the presidential election tribunal because he believes the court is the “sanctuary of justice”.
On Wednesday, the court – in a panel of five – unanimously confirmed the election of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria’s president, after dismissing the petitions filed by the opposition candidates for “lacking in merit”.
Atiku said the verdict given by the court “failed to restore confidence in our dreams of free and fair elections devoid of human manipulations”.
“Like I did say at the beginning of this legal battle when I instructed my lawyers to file my petition challenging the outcome of the presidential election, my ultimate goal in this pursuit is to ensure that democracy is further strengthened through the principles and processes of fair hearing.
“Gentlemen of the press, I take great pains to tell you that the decision of the court of first instance on this matter utterly falls far short of that expectation”, Atiku said.
He said that, although he respects the judgement of the court, he does not accept it.
“I refuse to accept the judgment because I believe that it is bereft of substantial justice. However, the disappointment in the verdict of the court can never destroy my confidence in the judiciary”, he further said.
“I can say that I have a fair idea of how the court system works. All through my career as a politician, I have been a fighter, and I must say that I have found the judiciary as a worthy pillar to rest on in the pursuit of justice”, he said.
“It is my conviction that the electoral process in Nigeria should be devoid of untidy manipulations and that the outcome of every election should be a perfect reflection of the wishes of the electorate.
“I believe that such is the only way through which our democracy can have a manifest expression of its true meaning. Whether I prevail in this quest or not, the record of my effort in ensuring an order of credible elections in Nigeria shall remain for future generations to evaluate”, Atiku said.
The PDP candidate asked his supporters to remain steadfast, saying he would win the war of restoring confidence in our electoral system.
“On this note, I urge all my supporters to remain steadfast. I urge them to take solace in an immortal lesson I learned from my leader and mentor, the late Shehu Yar’Adua, that losing a battle is less important than losing the war.
“We might have lost a battle yesterday, but the war is well ahead of us. And I believe that with our hopes in God, we shall win the war of restoring confidence in our electoral system”, he said.
Addressing journalists after the court session which lasted about 13 hours, lead counsel to Obi and LP, Dr. Livy Uzoukwu said he has received instructions from his clients to pursue an appeal.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said: “Our clients are dissatisfied with the judgement which the court just delivered.
“I have a firm instruction from our client to challenge the judgment on appeal and the court has promised that possibly by tomorrow, we are going to get a copy of the judgement”.
He added that “if we are not careful, our electoral jurisprudence will eventually disappear.
“I am saying this with every amount of sincerity because when the litigant, when those that contested election continue to find it very difficult to establish their case due to obstacles on the way, starting with INEC, certainly they may resort to some other means of trying to get justice, which may not be lawful”.
Atiku’s counsel, Chief Chris Uche also said the court did not deliver justice.
He said: “The judgement has been delivered but we have not received justice. Luckily, the constitution has given us the right to go on appeal.
“This is the court of first instance. We still have the right to go on appeal to the supreme court and you see, this is a struggle that is not just for our client, but for the constitution of this country, for the rule of law and democracy.
“We were expecting an outcome that will improve, encourage the use of technology to enhance election management, to enhance transparency, to enhance accountability, so that Nigerians will believe in democracy.
“So that Nigerians can come out en masse like they did, to vote. We don’t want Nigerians to be discouraged.
“There are certain things and principles of law that we know that we need to explore and we strongly believe that when we get to supreme court, it will have the opportunity to review a number of things that have been said here today.
“We have the instruction of our client to go to the supreme court. So, we have asked for the records. We have asked for the judgement.
“We are going to apply for the transmission of the records because we have a very limited time to push this.
“So, the struggle continues and as it is said, it is not over until it is over”.
