Atiku, PDP Acting Chairman, other party leaders, arrive presidential tribunal

Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate for the 2023 election, has arrived the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) to witness the submission of his final written address for adoption.

Umar Damagum, the party’s acting chairman, and other party leaders are with him.

Atiku had prayed the Tribunal to uphold the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) admission that he won 21 states in the contested presidential election on February 25.

In support of his joint petition with the PDP seeking the annulment of Bola Tinubu’s victory at the presidential election, Atiku made the request in his final written address, which was submitted on July 20 by their lead attorney, Chief Chris Uche SAN.

Throughout the proceedings, the petitioners pointed out that INEC did not dispute, retract, debunk, or claim an error in its acknowledgment that Atiku won in 21 states. INEC had previously stated in April that Atiku won in 21 states but only 16 states were announced for the PDP during the declaration of results on March 1.

According to Atiku, the states where he was said to have won are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.

Atiku and the PDP, however alleged that the electoral body failed to adhere to its regulations and guidelines during the conduct of the 2023 general elections, suggesting that the process was rigged to favor Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In light of these allegations, the petitioners are urging the court to invalidate Tinubu’s election, declare them as the winners, or alternatively, call for a fresh election excluding Tinubu.