Election tribunal: 5 things Atiku said about Buhari, 2019 presidential election in his petition
Few weeks ago, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declared President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 2019 presidential election, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with over three million votes.
President Buhari garnered 15,191,847 votes as against Atiku's 11,262,978 votes. However, the PDP presidential candidate expressed his dissatisfaction with the result and vowed to challenge it in court.
In the early hours of Tuesday, March 19, Atiku eventually filed a petition against President Buhari, the All Progressives Congress and INEC.
Legit.ng in this piece highlights the major points Atiku made against President Buhari and the 2019 presidential election in his petition.
1. WAEC certificate saga
In the petition, Atiku resuscitated the allegation that Buhari was not qualified to run for the office of the president on the grounds that he did not have the constitutionally recognised minimum qualification of a school certificate.
“The 2nd respondent submitted to the 1st Respondent an affidavit containing false information of a fundamental nature in aid of his qualification for the said election,” the petition reads.
During the buildup to the 2019 presidential election, President Buhari's certificate issue raised controversy, a repeat of what happened before the 2015 elections.
The controversy reared itself again after INEC disclosed that the president in an affidavit stated that his certificates were still with the military board.
When the controversy refused to die down, the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) eventually presented an attestation certificate to President Buhari, confirming that he indeed sat for WAEC exams and obtained certificate.
However, Atiku seemed not to be satisfied with the WAEC's confirmation as he brought up the certificate saga again in its petition.
2. President Buhari not qualified to contest the presidential election
Apart from citing the certificate saga, Atiku also claimed "was at the time of the election not qualified to contest the said election". Details of the reason why Atiku said the president was not qualified, apart from the certificate issue, are yet to be revealed.
3. Majority of lawful votes
President Buhari garnered 15,191,847 votes as against Atiku's 11,262,978 votes, winning with a margin close to four million. However, Atiku insisted in his petition that President Buhari did not "was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election".
4. Non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010
The PDP presidential candidate also challenged the presidential election that produced Buhari as the winner.
“The election of the 2nd Respondent is invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended)," the petition reads in part.
5. Corrupt practices
Atiku also claimed that the victory of President Buhari in the 2019 presidential election"is invalid by reason of corrupt practices."
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that former president Olusegun Obasanjo explained why he would not comment on the outcome of the February 23 presidential election, adding that speaking about the election would be ”subjudice.”
Obasanjo said this on Tuesday, March 19, at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre Abuja, at the launch of a book written by Abdullahi Shehu, titled ”Election in Nigeria: The Long Road To Democracy.”
Speaking further about why he has not spoken about the outcome of the election, Obasanjo said: "I think talking about it would become subjudicive, because it has been taken to court."
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2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
