Atiku and Buhari
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the defeated presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has inaugurated a legal team to challenge the result of the just concluded presidential election.
The National Independent Election Commission (INEC) had declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates of President Muhammudu Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as the winners of their re-election bid with 15,191,847 votes to defeat candidates of the Peoples democratic party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr Peter Obi that polled 11,262,978 votes in the Presidential election held on February 23.
According to a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the team inaugurated on Saturday is headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Livy Uzoukwu.
“I have just inaugurated my legal team and charged them with the responsibility of ensuring that our stolen mandate is retrieved,” Atiku was quoted as saying in the statement.
He added, “I am encouraged by the presence of fearless men and women of the Bench.
“The judiciary which had in the past discharged itself ably is once again being called upon to deliver judgement on this matter that will be untainted by lucre and uncowed by the threat of immoral power.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the election on Wednesday, having polled the highest number of votes in the poll.
In his reaction, Atiku rejected the result, alleging several malpractices including the use of the military to perfect voters’ intimidation and suppression in PDP strongholds.
He had also accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of conniving with INEC officials and security agents to fabricate “bogus figures and outright falsification of the returns from the polling units”.
The PDP candidate, thereafter, said he would use all available legitimate means to challenge the result of the election.
On Thursday, he met with members of the National Peace Committee lead by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd).
Atiku assured Nigerians that sooner than later, the dispensers of justice would give a judgement which he said would represent “a historic denunciation of electoral fraud and mandate bandit”.
