Atiku Appeals to Tribunal to Uphold INEC's Declaration of Winning 21 States

 

\Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to uphold the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) declaration that he won in 21 states during the February 25 presidential election.

Atiku made this request in his final address filed on July 20, supporting the joint petition with the PDP, seeking the nullification of INEC's declaration of Bola Tinubu as the winner of the poll.

In the address prepared by his lead counsel, Chris Uche SAN, Atiku argued that INEC's assertion that he won in 21 states was never disputed, retracted, debunked, or claimed to be an error throughout the tribunal proceedings.

INEC, in response to Atiku's petition, had also acknowledged that the PDP's presidential candidate won 21 states in the last presidential election. The states listed by INEC are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.

Atiku emphasized that since INEC never countered this admission during the tribunal proceedings, the tribunal should uphold the declaration. He urged the tribunal to recognize that this admission constitutes proof and an admission against interest.

The former Vice President further alleged that INEC manipulated the electoral technologies, resulting in the wrongful declaration of Bola Tinubu as the winner at 4.00 am on March 1, 2023, despite not meeting the mandatory constitutional requirement in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

In conclusion, Atiku prayed that the tribunal upholds INEC's admission and declares him the winner of the February 25 presidential election. The tribunal will now consider the final addresses and other submissions before delivering its verdict on the matter.