Close Up on Chris Uche, the man leading PDP’s offensive at Presidential Election Tribunal

After the Peoples Democratic Party announced it would challenge President Bola Tinubu’s victory at the election tribunal, the PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, inaugurated a legal team of 19 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), including Chris Uche, a veteran in election litigation, to establish the claim of illegality in the election and “reclaim the mandate of the Nigerian people.”

Among the 19 senior advocates listed on the PDP’s legal team, PoliticsNow will shine a spotlight on Chris Uche, SAN, a renowned Nigerian legal practitioner and one of the PDP’s lead counsel at the ongoing Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja.

The distinguished legal luminary, whose mother was the first female Justice to preside over the High Court in the old Imo State, has been championing the cause of Atiku Abubakar and the PDP as they seek an injunction to overturn President Bola Tinubu’s victory on the floor of the PEPC.

Mr. Uche, who served as the lead counsel for Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Alh. Atiku Abubakar, at the 2019 presidential election tribunal, and led the defence of Bauchi State governor-elect, Bala Mohammed, at the Bauchi State governorship petition tribunal in 2019, has expressed confidence in his clients’ victory in court.

Recall that Mr. Atiku had asked the election tribunal to annul the 2019 presidential election, in which ex-president Muhammadu Buhari won the election for a second time, and asked that a new election be held.

However, Mr Uche was the PDP’s legal counsel in 2019. At the time the party had the now-famous presidential candidate of the Labour Party Peter Obi as Atiku’s running mate.

In 2019, Atiku and his party contested the results of the election due to allegations of widespread rigging, irregularities, and flagrant violations of the electoral laws. The court ruled against them both at the Appeal Court, which is the court of first instance in the case of a presidential election dispute and at the Supreme Court, where all litigations end. In Bauchi, Chris Uche defended the 2019 victory for the PDP’s candidate, Governor Bala Mohammed.

Bala Mohammed had caused an upset in the 2019 election by defeating an incumbent, Mohammad Abubakar.

Abubakar and the APC had alleged rigging. However, Mr Uche was able to prove that his client won the election fair and square.

The big question now is whether Mr. Uche will be able to reverse the PDP’s election fortune at the presidential election tribunal or will it be as it was in 2019 given that the party already closed its case contesting Tinubu’s victory.

Chris Uche, the son of Hon Justice Christiana Ijeoma, the first female high court judge of the old Imo and Abia state, hails from Igbere in Abia State