The Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, has reserved judgment on the petition filed by the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 Presidential election.
Justice Haruna Tsamani gave the position after Atiku, who was present in the court, adopted his final address to the court.
The former Vice President and the Peoples Democratic Party PDP are challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election on the grounds of massive rigging and manipulation of election results.
Atiku and PDP are among others, asking the court to disqualify President Tinubu, nullify the presidential election, and order a rerun of the election.
The lead counsel to Atiku and PDP Mr. Chris Uche SAN, while urging the court to grant the relief sought by his clients, submitted that the electoral umpire failed to deliver on the innovation it brought to the electoral system.
Uche noted that the burden now lies on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to prove and explain why there was a technical glitch, which, according to him, gave room for manipulation of election results.
He said; “The substantiality of noncompliance was what whatever created room for manipulation.”
Atiku also urges the court to”accord value and weight on the objectivity of European Union EU Reports on the election.”
He told the court that, he relied on the mandatory acquisition of twenty-five percent of votes in FCT which Tinubu did not get in urging the court to give substantial justice ‘not on technically’ to the matter.
In its defense against Atiku and PDP’S petition, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said, “evidence in the court has shown the desire of the electoral body to conduct free, fair and credible elections in the country.”
INEC, through its lead counsel Abubakar Mahmoud, informed the court that the electoral umpire has demonstrated good intention to deliver credible polls through the use of technology.
He said the petitioner failed to provide proof that there was human interference in the process of uploading and transmission of results.
Also, the All Progressives Congress APC President Ahmed Tinubu have adopted their reply of objection against Atiku and PDP through their counsels Lateef Fagbemi SAN and Wole Olanipekum SAN.
In a ruling, Justice Haruna Tsamani announced that parties will be communicated on the date for the judgment.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
