The 2023 presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has resolved to head to the Supreme Court (the nation’s apex court) for legal redress, being dissatisfied with the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal’s judgment, which on Wednesday upheld President Tinubu’s victory at the February 25 presidential polls.
READ MORE: Tribunal Upholds President Tinubu’s Election Victory
While addressing a news conference at the PDP headquarters in Abuja, Atiku said that following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of the APC and its candidate as winners of the February 25 Presidential Election, he had approached the court in the belief that the court is the sanctuary of justice.
PROTOCOL
Good afternoon, Gentlemen of the Press.
I am here today to give my official reaction to the judgment delivered yesterday by the Presidential Election Petition Court on the 2023 presidential election.
As you already know, I approached the court following the… pic.twitter.com/jQQy2F5kXb
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) September 7, 2023
“…I am here to tell you that, though the judgment of the court yesterday is respected, it is a judgment that I refuse to accept. 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.
“Consequently, I have asked my lawyers to activate my constitutionally guaranteed rights of appeal to the higher court, which, in the instance, is the Supreme Court.
“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 the future generations to evaluate.
“Indeed, I am no stranger to legal battles, and 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.
“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.
“The last presidential election in our country and the way it was managed by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, leaves behind unenviable precedents, which I believe the courts have a duty to redress.
“Our gains in ensuring transparent elections through the deployment of technology was heavily compromised by the INEC in the way it managed the last presidential election, and I am afraid that the judgement of the court, as rendered by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal yesterday, failed to restore confidence in our dreams of free and fair elections devoid of human manipulations.
“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,” Atiku said.
Amb. Umar Iliya Damagum, the PDP’s acting national chairman.
The acting National Chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, said the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court left Nigerians and those in the diaspora more confused, wondering if the constitution, Electoral Act and other laws guiding the conduct of election in the country were of no effect.
Damagum promised that they would remain a formidable opposition to the ruling party and eventually win back their mandate.
