By Bada Abraham
The presidential candidate of the People’ s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed his confidence in the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) to deliver a fair and just verdict on his petition challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Atiku and his party had filed a petition before the tribunal, alleging that the election was marred by irregularities, violence, intimidation, and manipulation of results. They also claimed that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election because he was not a Nigerian citizen by birth.
In a statement issued by his media aide, Paul Ibe, on Tuesday, Atiku said he expected nothing else from the tribunal than a ruling in his favour based on the 1999 constitution and the Electoral Act 2022. He said he was confident that the tribunal would render justice in line with the law and the evidence presented before it.
” We anticipate the PEPT to deliver justice in accordance with the amended 1999 constitution and the various legal frameworks that govern the election, ” he said.
He added that he was not afraid of the outcome of the judgment, as he believed that he had a strong case and that Nigerians had voted for him massively. He urged his supporters to remain calm and peaceful as they await the verdict.
” I do not harbor fear regarding the judgment. I am confident that the Nigerian people voted for me, and I trust in both God and our legal system. I encourage all my supporters to stay composed and maintain peace. We are determined to recover our electoral mandate, ” he said.
Atiku is seeking to nullify Tinubu’ s election and be declared as the winner of the 2023 presidential election or, alternatively, order a fresh election. He is also asking the tribunal to disqualify Tinubu from holding any public office for allegedly lying about his citizenship.
Tinubu, on his part, has denied all the allegations against him and maintained that he won the election fair and square.
Leave a Reply