Atiku Abubakar Asks Court To Declare Him Winner Of Presidential Poll

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, is asking the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, to declare him the winner of the February 25 poll or order a rerun between him and the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

In the alternative, he wants the entire election nullified and a fresh one conducted.

These are the key reliefs being sought in the petition filed by him and the main opposition PDP.

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They are challenging the election on four grounds which are not limited to claims the election of Tinubu, is invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

That his election as President-elect, Is invalid by reason of Electoral corrupt practices.

The petition also stated that Tinubu was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the election, and at the time of the election, he was not qualified to contest the election.

They are also praying to the court for the following:

*That it may be determined that the President-Elect was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast in the election and therefore the declaration and return of him by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),  as the winner of the presidential election, is unlawful, wrong, unconstitutional, and void and of no effect whatsoever.

*They also want it determined that the return of Tinubu by INEC, was unlawful, having not satisfied the requirements of the Electoral Act 2022 and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which mandatorily requires that he to scores nothing less than one quarter (25 percent) of the lawful votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

*That it should be determined that Tinubu was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the said election.

*That it Should be determined that Atiku Abubakar, having scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the Presidential election, be returned as the winner of the said election and be sworn in as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In the alternative, however, they are asking the court for an order directing INEC to conduct a second election (run-off) between Tinubu and Atiku.

As a further alternative,

*That the election to the office of the President of Nigeria held on 25th February 2023 be nullified and a fresh election (re-run) be ordered.

The constitution allows the courts 180 days to make a ruling on election matters and plaintiffs can then appeal to the supreme court.

Abubakar, who was on his sixth bid for the presidency, also challenged the results in 2019 when he lost against incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

The supreme court dismissed his fraud claims months later.