Election: Atiku inaugurates legal team to challenge Buhari’s victory
Atiku had been prevailed upon by several interest groups including a legal practitioner, Olisa Agbakoba, not to go to court but refused to listen, believing that the court would upturn the Buhari’s victory and re-order it towards him. This is also as his party chieftains particularly Femi Fani-Kayode are urging him to order his supporters to engage in nationwide civil disobedience and former a parallel government, thereby causing security breach to the peace of the land.
The defeated presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has inaugurated his legal team to challenge the result of the just concluded presidential election in court.
This is coming even as Presidency in a comment during the week by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha said President Muhammadu Buhari was not bothered about Atiku’s threat to challenge his victory court, asking him to go ahead if that was what he chose to do.
According to a statement by the PDP candidate’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, the team inaugurated on Saturday is headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Livy Uzoukwu.
Atiku had been prevailed upon by several interest groups including a legal practitioner, Olisa Agbakoba, not to go to court but refused to listen, believing that the court would upturn the Buhari’s victory and re-order it towards him. This is also as his party chieftains particularly Femi Fani-Kayode are urging him to order his supporters to engage in nationwide civil disobedience and former a parallel government, thereby causing security breach to the peace of the land.
“I have just inaugurated my legal team and charged them with the responsibility of ensuring that our stolen mandate is retrieved,” Atiku was quoted as saying in the statement.
He added, “I am encouraged by the presence of fearless men and women of the Bench.
“The judiciary which had in the past discharged itself ably is once again being called upon to deliver judgement on this matter that will be untainted by lucre and uncowed by the threat of immoral power.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the election on Wednesday, having polled the highest number of votes in the poll.
In his reaction, Atiku rejected the result, alleging several malpractices including the use of the military to perfect voters’ intimidation and suppression in PDP strongholds.
He had also accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of conniving with INEC officials and security agents to fabricate “bogus figures and outright falsification of the returns from the polling units”.
The PDP candidate, thereafter, said he would use all available legitimate means to challenge the result of the election.
On Thursday, he met with members of the National Peace Committee lead by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd).
Atiku assured Nigerians that sooner than later, the dispensers of justice would give a judgement which he said would represent “a historic denunciation of electoral fraud and mandate bandit”.
