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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has appealed the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), which affirmed the election of the President Bola Tinubu.
The former vice president, in a 35-ground notice of appeal filed on Tuesday, stated that the tribunal “committed a grave error” in arriving at its decision.
The Notice of Appeal filed by Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), is praying the Supreme Court to set aside the whole findings and conclusions of the tribunal on the grounds that they did not represent the true picture of the grounds of his petition.
Among others, the PDP candidate maintained that the tribunal erred in law when it failed to nullify the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
Atiku said the evidence before the tribunal was that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the election on grave and gross misrepresentation, contrary to the principles of the Electoral Act 2022, based on the “doctrine of legitimate expectation.”
The appellant also said the lower court erred in law in its interpretation of section 134(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which addresses scoring of 25 per cent of votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He also faulted the tribunal for striking out the statements on oaths made by 13 of their witnesses.