Former Nigerian Vice President and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, has escalated his legal battle for the presidency by approaching the Supreme Court. Atiku is seeking the nullification of the recent judgement by the Presidential Election Petition Court, which upheld Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
In his Notice of Appeal, consisting of 35 grounds, Atiku contends that the Tribunal, led by Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, committed serious errors and miscarriages of justice in its findings and conclusions regarding the petition challenging Tinubu’s declaration as President by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Atiku’s lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, filed the Notice of Appeal, urging the Supreme Court to overturn the Tribunal’s entire findings and conclusions. They argue that these findings did not accurately represent the grounds of Atiku’s petition.
One key point of contention is the alleged failure of the Tribunal to nullify the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022. Atiku’s legal team asserts that INEC conducted the election based on grave and gross misrepresentation, which goes against the principles outlined in the Electoral Act of 2022. They also argue that the doctrine of legitimate expectation was not adequately considered in the Tribunal’s judgement.
