Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, has assembled a legal team of 19 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to challenge the outcome of the February 25 election.
This comes after Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President-elect, assembled 13 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to defend his victory.
Atiku briefed them on Wednesday at his campaign headquarters in Abuja, urging them to “establish the claim of electoral irregularity and reclaim the mandate of the Nigerian people.”
He went on to say that going through this process is critical not only for himself and the PDP but also for strengthening constitutional democracy and preserving it for future generations.
JK Gadzama, a seasoned litigation and commercial solicitor, leads the team.
Others include Chief Chris Uche, Paul Usoro, Tayo Jegede, Ken Mozia, Chief Mike Ozekhome, Mahmood Magaji, Joe Abraham, Chukwuma Umeh, Garba Tetengi and Chief Emeka Etiaba – as well as Chief Goddy Uche, Professor Maxwell Gidado; PDP’s National Legal Adviser A.K. Ajibade; O.M. Atoyebi; Nella Rabana; Paul Ogbole; Nuremi Jimoh and Abdul Ibrahim.
Earlier, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Tinubu as the President-elect after the 70-year-old polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku and Obi who scored 6,984,520 and 6,101, votes, respectively.
But, Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, have refused to acknowledge defeat in the presidential election on February 25, instead to fight for their mandate in court.
The two candidates rejected President-elect Bola Tinubu’s conciliation gesture after he was proclaimed the winner of the poll on Wednesday and requested them to support him in the work of building the nation.
They each petitioned the Presidential Election Court for authorization to inspect election materials used during the presidential election.
credit: PM News
