Atiku assembles over 400 witnesses, 20 SANs to challenge Buhari’s victory

PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the party have finally filed a petition challenging the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as winner of the poll.

The defendants, it was gathered, assembled a legal team comprising 20 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) and other retinue of lawyers to prosecute the case.

The two defendants in the petition disclosed that they had assembled over 400 witnesses to testify during the trial.

Buhari was declared winner of the 2019 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), having polled 15,191,847 while Atiku came second with 11,262,978.

Atiku and his party are challenging the election of Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), on the grounds of alleged massive rigging, malpractices and non-compliance with the electoral laws.

In the petition filed on Monday night, Atiku and the PDP are praying that they be declared winner of the presidential election.

In the alternative, the two petitioners prayed the presidential election petitions tribunal to nullify the poll and order for a fresh election that would be conducted in lines with the provisions of the electoral laws.

Respondents in the suit are the APC, President Buhari and INEC.

ALSO READ: Presidential election: No peace without justice ― PDP

Although a copy of the petition could not be obtained at the time of filing of this report, the national legal adviser of the PDP, Emmanuel Enoidem, confirmed to journalists at the Court of Appeal where the tribunal was sitting that the petition had been filed.

Enoidem said the PDP and its presidential candidate had already assembled a legal team, comprising 20 SANs and other retinue of lawyers who would establish the fact of the petition.

He disclosed that over 400 witnesses had also been assembled to testify during the hearing of the petition.

On the order earlier granted to Atiku to inspect materials used in the conduct of the presidential election by the electoral body, he said the party was using the report of the party’s polling agents across the country to establish facts of the petition.

A member of the legal team, Chief Mike Ozekhome, while confirming the filing of the petition by Atiku and his party, said “the petition was solid, strong and unassailable,” adding that “the true owner and keeper of the people’s mandate would soon be declared.”

Ozekhome, however, lamented the alleged non-cooperative attitude of INEC to the petitioners.