The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja witnessed the arrival of Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President, on Thursday for the hearing of his petition aimed at overturning Bola Tinubu’s triumph.
Atiku contested in the presidential election held on February 25th under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mr Tinubu, representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), secured the presidency by garnering 8.8 million votes, surpassing Atiku and Peter Obi of the Labour Party in the electoral contest.
Atiku and Mr Obi have each filed individual petitions contesting the election results. They assert that the electoral process conducted by Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) contravened several provisions of the Electoral Act.
The INEC was accused of engaging in electoral manipulation to benefit Mr Tinubu.
In their individual petitions, they implored the court to either declare them as the victor of the election or mandate a new election.
Atiku’s initial court appearance occurred on Thursday, marking the first instance of his presence before the five-member panel since its commencement on Monday. Mr Obi has been present in court during the scheduled hearings since Monday.
Atiku was present at the current pre-hearing sessions of the petitions, accompanied by Dino Melaye, the Kogi State PDP governorship candidate, and other prominent party members.
A five-member judicial panel led by Haruna Tsammani has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to consider Atiku’s petition for a live broadcast of the court’s proceedings.
The individual contended in legal documents that broadcasting the hearing would increase the trust of Nigerians in the court system by promoting transparency.
