PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku In Court As Parties Adopt Final Written Addresses At PEPT

Nigeria Former Vice-President Abubakar Atiku today attended the presidential election petition court as parties were set to adopt their final written addresses.

The adoption of final addresses is the precursor to fixing a date for judgment in the petition of Mr Abubakar and the PDP challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel of the court had, on the last adjourned date, directed parties to prepare their final briefs of argument and appear before it for adoption.

In a notice to the parties, the court invited them to adopt their written address concerning the petition filed against President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, praying the court to nullify their election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on March 1, announced that Mr Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won the presidential election ahead of 17 other candidates.

It declared that Mr Tinubu scored 8,794,726 votes to defeat the two major contenders, Atiku of the PDP, who came second with 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who came third with 6,101,533 votes.

However, dissatisfied with the election’s outcome, Messrs Abubakar and Obi approached the court to invalidate it. They claimed they won the presidential poll in their separate petitions, even as they challenged Mr Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the election.

The petitioners are praying the court to nullify the election and order a fresh presidential poll, excluding Mr Tinubu, who they argued was, ab initio, not qualified to participate.