By Henry Adamu
A Nigerian election tribunal has rejected a bid by 2019 main opposition candidate, Atiku Abubakar to overturn the result of February’s presidential election which led to the re-election of Muhammadu Buhari .
Rejecting the legal challenges presented by Atiku, the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal ruled that Buhari’s main challenger in the presidential race, Atiku Abubakar had failed to prove allegations of electoral fraud sufficiently. Atiku’s counsel had claimed that the election was marred by irregularities, that he received more votes than Buhari and that the president did not have a secondary school certificate, a basic requirement to contest the election.
The tribunal rejected all three claims in what marks a victory for the sitting president whose popularity in Nigeria has been erratic since his re-election, but was sky high when he initially came into office in 2016. Allegations of fraud and rigging undermined the integrity of the Nigerian 2018 elections, with Atiku arguing that he had attained the highest number if votes in the elections.
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DISMISSED
“This petition is hereby dismissed in its entirety,” Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba said in announcing the ruling. The five-member panel of justices found that Buhari did have the level of education to contest a presidential election.
Atiku alleged that Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) dubiously collaborated with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fix the winning votes. Over 60 witnesses for the Atiku camp appeared at the tribunal for Buhari. The ruling is a significant blow to Atiku’s argument that he had secured the highest number of votes based on the results in the central computer server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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The legal battle is nit final, as Atiku plans to appeal the tribunal’s ruling to the Nigerian Supreme Court..
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