President Bola Tinubu has fervently requested the Supreme Court to quash the appeal filed by the Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar challenging his victory in the 2023 presidential election.
Tinubu, asserting that the appeal was derogatory in nature, ardently prayed for its outright dismissal, reinforcing the authenticity of his victory.
President Tinubu adamantly contended that Atiku and the PDP failed to substantiate their claims and submissions at the Tribunal.
He insisted that the Tribunal’s decision to validate his election was accurate.
He implored the apex court to uphold the lower court’s ruling and summarily reject the appeal in its entirety, citing its lack of merit and genuine intention.
DAILY GIST recalls Atiku and the PDP had originally filed a petition contesting the outcome of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023.
Among their numerous grievances, the petitioners alleged that the election was marred by irregularities and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
They also contended that President Tinubu and his vice, Kashim Shettima, were unqualified to contest and did not secure victory through the majority of lawful votes cast.
However, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, in its verdict on September 6, ruled against Atiku, asserting that he failed to substantiate the allegations in his petition.
Undeterred, Atiku promptly filed an appeal before the Supreme Court on September 18, 2023.
In the 35-point notice of appeal, the appellants vehemently criticised the Tribunal’s findings, labeling them as riddled with “grave errors and gross misrepresentation” leading to a miscarriage of justice.
But Tinubu said Atiku resorted to cooking up allegations against him when he and the PDP failed to secure evidence to support their claim that he (Tinubu) was not qualified to have contested that last presidential election.
In his respondent’s brief in the appeal by Atiku and the PDP before the Supreme Court, Tinubu urged the court to dismiss the appeal and affirm the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PDP) which upheld his election.
Tinubu said he was validly elected having polled the highest number of votes.
Stating that he was validly returned as the winner of the presidential poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Tinubu added that by statistics, he garnered one-quarter/25 percent of the total votes in 29 states of the federation.
He said Atiku and the PDP only managed to secure 25 percent of the total votes in 21 states of the federation, “as against the constitutional requirement of 24.7 states, which is the mathematical results of two-thirds of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT (making 37).”
Tinubu stated that having secured the highest number of valid votes cast and having fulfilled all constitutional requirements in that regard, INEC, had no option but to declare him as the winner of the presidential contest.
