Presidential election: Atiku inaugurates Gadzama-led 18 SANs as legal team

Obiora Ifoh, Abuja

 

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday inaugurated the legal team comprising 18 Senior Advocates Nigeria, to challenge the outcome of the presidential election of February 25, 2023.

 

The PDP presidential candidate, while inaugurating the legal team at his campaign headquarters in Abuja, charged it to establish the claim of illegality in the February 25 presidential election and reclaim the mandate of the Nigerian people.

 

Atiku told the team that apart from reclaiming the mandate from those who undertook the electoral heist that was not a reflection of the will of Nigerians, the legal team should also use the opportunity of the trial to strengthen constitutional democracy in the country.

 

Addressing the team headed by Chief J. K. Gadzama, SAN, at the conference room of his office at the campaign headquarters, Atiku said it was imperative that they work assiduously in reclaiming the mandate not necessarily because of him and the PDP, but to strengthen democracy and the electoral process and for generations unborn.”

 

The members of the team include Chief Chris Uche (SAN), Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), Tayo Jegede (SAN), Ken Mozia (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Mahmood Magaji (SAN), Joe Abraham (SAN), Mr Chukwuma Umeh (SAN), Dr. Garba Tetengi (SAN) and Chief Emeka Etiaba (SAN).

 

Others are Chief Goddy Uche (SAN), Prof. Maxwell Gidado (SAN); the National Legal Adviser of the PDP, A. K. Ajibade (SAN), Mr. O. M. Atoyebi, (SAN), Mrs. Nella Rabana (SAN), Paul Ogbole (SAN), Nuremi Jimoh (SAN), and Abdul Ibrahim (SAN).

 

Meanwhile, The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed gratitude to Nigerians for coming out to vote in last week’s elections.

He, however, appealed to them not to be weary in the pursuit of a just and egalitarian society but to come out in record members to vote for PDP candidates in Saturday’s Governorship and National Assembly elections.

 

Atiku made the appeal in a statement he made available to newsmen, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

 

He said, “I thank Nigerians immensely for their high sense of patriotism in bracing the odds to perform their civic duty during the February 25 presidential election.

 

“I truly appreciate their resilience, tenacity, and courage. It is indeed heart-warming that they have faith in rescuing and rebuilding our great country, as envisioned by our great party, the PDP.

 

“As attested to by both local and international observers, the result of the February 25 presidential election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission was grossly tainted and did not reflect the will of the electorates.

 

“Nigerians have demonstrated against this blatant injustice through different mediums. And for that, I thank them again for their non-violent conduct despite the provocations.

 

“Indeed, what the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) did in announcing the manipulated result was a clear breach of not only the 2022 Electoral Act but also of its own guidelines which the electoral commission had repeatedly claimed would uphold the standards we had seen in the Osun and Ekiti elections.

 

“Curiously, the INEC Chairman further ignored calls for a review of the process in line with the amended

law.

 

“But all hope is not lost. As citizens desirous of a better Nigeria, we must never give in to apathy. The electoral fraud perpetrated by INEC will be reversed in due course as we step up the cause to reclaim our mandate.

 

“We must continue to show resilience in the defence of our democracy and in the exercise of our rights to vote.”

 

Atiku equally said, “ I urge all our supporters to turn out in large numbers on March 11 to cast their votes for the PDP in the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly election.

 

“There is no better way to demonstrate against the sham of an election of February 25 than for patriotic citizens like you to turn out en masse this Saturday to vote for a greater and prosperous Nigeria as envisioned by the PDP.

 

“I urge you to cast your votes peacefully and in strict compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines. And having cast your votes, be vigilant and protect those votes.”

Meanwhile,the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) protest march over the outcome of the 2023 Presidential Election is to intimidate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting Saturday’s gubernatorial and state assemblies elections, an All Progressives Congress (APC) Support Group has said.

 

The National Coordinator of the Muhammadu Buhari/Osinbajo Dynamic Support Group, Hon. Usman Ibrahim made the disclosure during a press conference organised by the Support Group at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday.

 

According to the Support Group, while there were isolated hitches in the conduct of the election, INEC delivered on its promise of a free and fair election which produced Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner and now President-elect.

 

He said, “We are all witnesses to events before and after the February 25 polls which was conducted in a free and fair atmosphere as attested by both local and international observers.

 

“It is also pertinent to note that President Buhari’s commitment towards institutionalizing a level playing field for electoral contest yielded the desired results, one of which is the emergence of four front runners in the recently conducted presidential election.

 

“Judging from the aforementioned, we make bold to say that a President that recorded such feat cannot in any way allow a flawed election as being bandied by the opposition parties who lost on account of inability to secure highest votes to win the presidential election.

 

“This is not to say that there were no hitches in the conduct of the election. In our estimation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in the face of numerous challenges delivered on its promise of a free and fair election.

 

“However, the declaration of the APC Presidential Candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 election by INEC on March 1, has sparked an array of unsubstantiated reasons by the opposition and their supporters to discredit the election and by extension the electoral umpire.

 

“In as much as we appreciate the freedom of all and sundry to express their feelings we are most worried by blatant lies couched in the desperation to truncate the electoral victory of H.E Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

 

“We are also at loss as to why men of high standing in the country will resort to using irrational approaches to pursue their political ambitions.

 

“Yes, the right to protest is constitutional in Nigeria and globally recognized but this lawful freedom must be exercised in tandem with every sense of decency.

 

“In this vein, we urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to exercise restraint in its desperation to gag INEC with the sole intent of intimidating the commission from conducting the upcoming gubernatorial and state assemblies elections scheduled for March 11. It should absolve itself with gathering evidences to substantiate its case at the tribunal.

 

“For us at MBO, the protest by PDP does not in any way portray them as true democrats but as an undemocratic forces bent on thwarting the remaining elections thus trying to jeopardize the hard earned democratic process because it loss the election.

 

“Interestingly, the Jagaban Borgu’s election as the 6th democratically elected president of Nigeria has come to stay for the next four years and by the special grace of the Almighty God a second term of four years.

 

“We will not relent in our call to aggrieved politicians for them to explore legal means in pursuing their cases. And to equally stand firm against any illegal or ill-timed protest to subvert the voices of the Nigerian people who came out en-mass to vote for Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

 

“Judging from the acceptance speech of the President-elect the opposition is supposed to see an all-inclusive government underway and start prepping to join the monumental political force championed by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who is poised to build on the developmental strides of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 8 years in office.

 

“At a time like this, when Nigeria calls, let us put personal interests aside and support the onerous task of building a better nation in line with the dreams of her founding fathers because at this critical time, we need everybody on board.”