Like Atiku, Peter Obi to challenge presidential election tribunal’s verdict in Supreme Court

The Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Thursday rejected the verdict of the election petitions tribunal.

A five-member panel of the presidential election court headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani had on Wednesday night dismissed the petitions filed by Obi and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, against the outcome of the election for lack of merit.

Tsammani, who read the judgement, held that the duo did not successfully prove the allegations of fraud, non-compliance with the electoral act, and indeed all the grounds in their petition challenging President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the election.

Atiku had earlier on Thursday rejected the tribunal’s verdict and vowed to challenge it at the Supreme Court.

Obi, who spoke at a press conference in Anambra State, equally said he would appeal the judgement of the tribunal.

He urged Nigerians to remain focused, steadfast, and peaceful, adding that the matter has not reached its logical conclusion.

READ ALSO: PEPC Judgment: Don’t go on appeal, Yahaya Bello counsels Atiku, Obi

The former Anambra State governor challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to discharge its statutory functions creditably and transparently to save the country the pain of election litigations.

He said: “As petitioners in this case, we respect the views and rulings of the court, but we disagree with the court’s reasoning and conclusions in the judgment it delivered.

“It is my intention as a presidential candidate and the intention of the Labour Party to challenge this judgment by way of appeal immediately, as allowed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Our legal team has already received our firm instruction to file an appeal against the decision. I shall not relent in the quest for justice, not necessarily for myself but indeed for our teeming supporters all over the country and beyond whose mandate to us at the polls was regrettably truncated by INEC.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now