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• Counsel to Tinubu, Atiku, Obi adopt final addresses • Heaven won’t fall if I’m declared winner, PDP candidate tells court
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has said heaven would not fall if the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) could summon courage to declare him and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winners of the February 25 presidential election.
Atiku who urged the court to chose the path of substantial justice over technicalities in arriving at its decision, further prayed the court to set a precedence and write its name in history by annulling the declaration of Bola Tinubu as winner of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) .
While adopting their final written address, Atiku and PDP, through their legal team led by Chief Chris Uche urged the court to be the first to nullify a presidential election in Nigeria.
He insisted that INEC’s failure to upload results of the election in real-time to its Result Viewing (IReV) portal created room for manipulation of the final outcome of the poll.
“My Lord, it was a deliberate bypass in order to create room for manipulation which took place on election day,” he said, noting that the substantiality of that ‘technical glitch’ INEC claimed it experienced with the IReV portal was nationwide lack merit.
Uche also urged the court to hold that FCT is not a state as claimed by respondents, adding that Tinubu failed to score 25 per cent of votes in the country’s capital.
Alternatively, the petitioners, urged the court to nullify the entire outcome of the presidential election and order a re-run or fresh contest.
Atiku and his party in their joint petition alleged that INEC despite receiving over N355 billion for the conduct of the election, deliberately bypassed all the technological innovations it introduced for the purpose of the 2023 general elections.
It was their contention that INEC acted in breach of the amended Electoral Act, when it refused to electronically transmit results of the presidential election.
“On the issue of transmission of election results based on new provisions in the Electoral Act, we are all in agreement, including the INEC, that there is a new regime in election management. The essence of the innovation was to enhance transparency in the collation of results, which was an area that we usually had problems and not the actual election, and secondly, to enhance the integrity of result declared.
“We agree that INEC had an option and we brought a video evidence by INEC Chairman showing that the electoral body indeed chose an option. It is our contention and it is here in evidence that witnesses admitted that results from the National Assembly election were transmitted, but that of the presidential election was not. Over N355billion was deployed for the election, therefore, INEC owe this court and the nation an explanation.
“It is our submission that there was no technical glitch on the election day, rather, there was a deliberate bypass of the technology in order to create room for the manipulation that eventually took place. Until the court makes a judicial pronouncement, there may not be compliance to express provisions of the new regime of the Electoral Act.
“My Lords, in a situation like this, the burden shifts on INEC to explain. It is not on the petitioner to explain why there was such technical glitch. We urge this court to hold that there was a deliberate non-compliance. The substantiality of the non-compliance lies on the national spread of the non transmission of results. It was national and not limited to certain polling units,” Uche submitted.
Responding to Atiku’s submission, INEC, President Tinubu and APC, prayed the court to dismiss the petition as grossly lacking in merit.
Lead counsel to INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, maintained that the presidential election was not only validly conducted but done in substantial compliance with all the relevant laws.
Likewise, President Tinubu’s team led by Chief Wole Olanipekun argued that the petitioners failed to establish why the presidential election should be nullified.
Insisting that he was duly elected with majority of valid votes that were cast during the election, President Tinubu urged the court to dismiss Atiku’s petition.
The APC represented by Prince Lateef Fagbemi equally prayed the court to dismiss the petition for want of merit.
After listening to all the parties, PEPC called on citizens to put the country in their prayers ahead of its final judgment in different petitions challenging President Bola Ahmed’s electoral victory.
The Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five member panel said while parties and Nigerians should pray for Nigeria, judgement date will be communicated to parties on a later date.
A member of the panel, Justice Stephen Adah commended the lawyers for cooperating and filing processes when they should.
He added that they will now study their submissions and come up with their judgement.
“The court will now at look at what is placed before us and by the grace of God, we will end well.
“We thank you all for your cooperation. All of us in Nigerians are prayer warriors so when we go to pray, pray for Nigeria,” the judge said.
Meanwhile, the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five member panel has reserved its judgment in the petition by Atiku and PDP.
