Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, aiming to overturn the ruling of the election petition tribunal that upheld Bola Tinubu as the President of Nigeria.
The notice of appeal, consisting of 35 grounds, was submitted on Monday by Chris Uche, who serves as the lead counsel for Atiku.
In the Notice of Appeal, Atiku strongly asserted that the tribunal, presided over by Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, made serious errors and miscarried justice in its findings and conclusions regarding the petition challenging Tinubu’s declaration as President by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Atiku’s arguments
Atiku’s newly filed Notice of Appeal requests the Supreme Court to overturn the entire set of findings and conclusions made by the Tribunal. He contends that they did not accurately reflect the grounds of his petition.
Among other arguments, the former Vice President contends that the Tribunal made a legal error by not annulling the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.
He points out that, according to the evidence presented to the tribunal, INEC conducted the election based on a significant and misleading misrepresentation, which contradicted the principles of the Electoral Act 2022 and the “doctrine of legitimate expectation.”
Backstory
On September 6, following a 13-hour ruling, the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) upheld Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s electoral victory in the 2023 presidential poll.
The panel characterized the petitions filed by various parties, including the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, the Peoples Democratic Party with its candidate Atiku Abubakar, and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), as lacking in merit.
The Tribunal, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, unanimously dismissed these petitions in a comprehensive judgment covering various aspects of the consolidated cases.
