By Adadareporters
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Thursday, asked his lawyers to ‘activate’ his ‘constitionally guaranteed rights of appeal’ in the outcome of Wednesday’s ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which quashed his petitions seeking to upturn the election of President Bola Tinubu of APC.
Atiku stated this in his address to the press in Abuja. He described the judgement as ‘falling short’. He said he had approached the court following the declaration by INEC that the APC and its candidate are the winners of the February 25, Presidential Election.
According to him, “My decision to go to court is anchored in my belief that the court is the sanctuary of justice. The journey of my political career, as you know, holds so much to the courage and fearless decisions of our judiciary.
“I am no stranger to legal battles, and I can say that I have a fair idea of how the court system works. All through my career as a politician, I have been a fighter, and I must say that I have found the judiciary as a worthy pillar to rest on in the pursuit of justice.
“The last presidential election in our country and the way it was managed by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, leaves behind unenviable precedents. I believe the courts have a duty to redress. Our gains in ensuring transparent elections through the deployment of technology were heavily compromised by INEC in the way it managed the last presidential election. I am afraid that the judgement of the court as rendered by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal yesterday failed to restore confidence in our dreams of free and fair elections devoid of human manipulations.”
He said his goal ‘is to ensure that democracy is further strengthened through the principles and processes of fair hearing’.
He continued, “I take great pains to tell you that the decision of the court of first instance on this matter utterly falls far short of that expectation. I am therefore here to tell you that, though the judgment of the court yesterday is respected, it is a judgment that I refuse to accept. I refuse to accept the judgment because I believe that it is bereft of substantial justice. However, the disappointment in the verdict of the court can never destroy my confidence in the judiciary.
“Consequently, I have asked my lawyers to activate my constitutionally guaranteed rights of appeal to the higher court, which, in the instance, is the Supreme Court. It is my conviction that the electoral process in Nigeria should be devoid of untidy manipulations and that the outcome of every election should be a perfect reflection of the wishes of the electorate. I believe that such is the only way through which our democracy can have a manifest expression of its true meaning.
“Whether I prevail in this quest or not, the record of my effort in ensuring an order of credible elections in Nigeria shall remain for the future generations to evaluate.”
He urged his supporters ‘to remain steadfast’: “I urge them to take solace in an immortal lesson I learned from my leader and mentor, the late Shehu Yar’Adua, that losing a battle is less important than losing the war. We might have lost a battle yesterday, but the war is well ahead of us. And I believe that with our hopes in God, we shall win the war of restoring confidence in our electoral system.”
