Atiku disagrees with the tribunal’s ruling says it lacks justice.

On Thursday, former vice president Atiku Abubakar dismissed the decision of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal upholding President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, saying it did not instill trust.

He said the tribunal judgement failed to restore confidence.

“Though the judgement of yesterday is respected, it is a judgement I refused to accept. I refused to accept the judgement because I believe it is bereft of substantial justice,” Atiku said while addressing a world press conference at the PDP headquarters in Abuja.

The tribunal affirmed Tinubu’s victory and dismissed the cases of Atiku, the PDP’s presidential candidate, and Peter Obi, the candidate for the Labour Party.

Atiku and Obi both disagreed with the tribunal’s decision from Wednesday upholding Tinubu’s election. Kehinde Edun, the Labour Party’s legal adviser, vowed to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Atiku’s lead attorney, Chris Uche, SAN, added that his client had given him the go-ahead to appeal to the Supreme Court.

He said “The judgment has been delivered but we have not received justice. Luckily, the law has given us leverage to go on appeal to the Supreme Court. We have instructions from our clients to go to the Supreme Court. The struggle continues.”

The PEPT, which convened at 9.40am at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, declared unanimously that Tinubu had won the February 25 presidential election and rejected the case submitted by Atiku, Obi, and their parties.

The challenges filed by Atiku and Obi challenging Tinubu’s election as president by the Independent National Electoral Commission on March 1, 2023, were dismissed by the five-member panel, which took turns doing so.

Justice Haruna Tsammani, the tribunal’s chairman, gave the decision with assistance from the other judges on the panel, Stephen Adah, Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, Moses Ugo, and Abba Mohammed.

Atiku, though, stated that he was not a stranger to legal conflict and that he would continue to go to the judiciary for relief when speaking at a press conference on Thursday.

“However, the disappointment in the verdict of the court can never destroy my confidence in the judiciary.

“Consequently, I have asked my lawyers to activate my constitutionally guaranteed rights of appeal to the higher court, which in this instance, is the Supreme Court of Nigeria.”

He added, “My decision to go to court is anchored in my belief that the court is the sanctuary of justice. The journey of my political career, as you know, holds so much to the courage and fearless decisions of our judiciary.

“Indeed, I am no stranger to legal battles, and I can say that I have a fair idea of how the court system works. All through my career as a politician, I have been a fighter, and I must say that I have found the judiciary as a worthy pillar to rest on in the pursuit of justice.

“The last presidential election in our country and the way it was managed by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, leaves behind unenviable precedents, which I believe the courts have a duty to redress.

“Our gains in ensuring transparent elections through the deployment of technology was heavily compromised by INEC in the way it managed the last presidential election, and I am afraid that the judgement of the court as rendered by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal yesterday, failed to restore confidence in our dreams of free and fair elections devoid of human manipulations.

“Like I did say at the beginning of this legal battle when I instructed my lawyers to file my petition challenging the outcome of the presidential election, my ultimate goal in this pursuit is to ensure that democracy is further strengthened through the principles and processes of fair hearing.”