Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, has made a u-turn regarding the decision of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to legally challenge the victory of All the Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, in the just-concluded election.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Agbakoba clarified his position, explaining that his earlier advice to Atiku against going to court was taken out of context.
“Much has been made about my position on Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar approaching the court to challenge the result of the February 23, 2019, Presidential Election.
“I have been misquoted to say the former vice president will lose at the Presidential Election Tribunal. That is far from the truth. I meant the former Vice President will face an uphill task, given the circumstances of challenging the Election results,” he stated.
He added that given that “President Muhammadu Buhari has subverted the Supreme Court by the removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen and the appointment of the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.
“My perception is that we need to resolve the status of the Supreme Court.”
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He wondered why it is taking the National Judicial Council so long to resolve the issue of the petitions against the former CJN and the acting CJN, adding “I am also worried about the historical precedent, as no petition on Presidential Election result has ever succeeded.”
Mr Agbakoba explained further that now that Atiku has decided to approach the court on the matter, his earlier advice has become invalid.
He, however, insisted that it would be a huge task for the PDP flag bearer to prove his case.
He said, “As one of Nigeria’s experienced Election Petition lawyers, I know that the burden of proof to succeed in an Election Petition is unfairly huge. We first have to prove that there are electoral irregularities and in my view, once you prove this, you should succeed.
“Unfortunately, even if you prove electoral irregularities you will have to show how that affected the results of the Election. Remember that the gap between Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and President Muhammadu Buhari is about 4 million votes.”
