The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), Tuesday reserved judgment in the petition filed by the presidential candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Justice Haruna Tsamani made the position known after Atiku, who was physically present in court, adopted his final address to the court.
Atiku is challenging the declaration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
The former vice president and the PDP are challenging the declaration of President 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 for a rerun of the election.
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.
Atiku also urged the court to “accord value and weight on the objectivity of European Union EU Reports on the election.”
Atiku informed the court that, he relied on the mandatory acquisition of 25 percent of votes in FCT which Tinubu did not get in urging the court to give substantial justice ‘not on technicality’ to the matter.
