The People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, has submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court requesting the nullification of the Presidential Election Petition Court’s (PEPC) ruling.
The PEPC had upheld the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Atiku’s appeal, as outlined in the Notice of Appeal filed with the Supreme Court, is built upon 35 distinct grounds. He firmly maintains that the Election Tribunal, presided over by Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, committed severe errors and a miscarriage of justice in its findings and conclusions regarding the petition challenging INEC’s declaration of Tinubu as President.
The Notice of Appeal, presented by Atiku’s lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, urges the Supreme Court to overturn the Tribunal’s entire set of findings and conclusions. This request is grounded in the argument that these findings failed to accurately represent the core of his petition.
Among the issues raised, Atiku contends that the Tribunal erred in law by not annulling the presidential election that transpired on February 25, 2023, due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022. He asserts that the evidence presented to the Tribunal indicated that INEC conducted the election in a manner that significantly deviated from the principles outlined in the Electoral Act of 2022, contravening the “doctrine of legitimate expectation.”
