Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, and Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate, have taken separate legal actions in their determination to challenge the election victory of President Bola Tinubu, who represents the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Both Atiku and Obi filed appeals with the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which upheld Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election.

In their appeals, both candidates argued that the PEPC’s judgment was flawed for several reasons. They contended that Tinubu failed to secure at least 25 percent of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Abuja, and alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deliberately failed to transmit the election results electronically to its portal as per its guidelines.

Furthermore, they claimed that the PEPC overlooked their substantial evidence of election manipulation, which they argued was conducted in violation of the constitution and electoral laws.

Atiku, represented by a consortium of 67 lawyers, including 18 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, submitted 35 grounds of appeal to challenge Tinubu’s victory.

On the other hand, Peter Obi, represented by his legal team led by Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, lodged 51 grounds of appeal with the Supreme Court.

Atiku, in his appeal, emphasized that the PEPC’s verdict, delivered by the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel of the Court of Appeal on September 6, was not only contrary to the weight of evidence but also resulted in a significant miscarriage of justice against him.

He asserted that the PEPC panel made a legal error by not annulling the presidential election due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022, despite the evidence showing that INEC had acted in violation of existing laws and regulations governing elections.

Atiku accused the PEPC of reaching a unanimous decision based on a gross misinterpretation and misrepresentation of both the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the Electoral Act of 2022.