Supreme Court Verdict: I Won’t Go Away, Says Atiku

Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25, 2023 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has vowed not to forgo his fight for justice and enthronement of good governance in the country, just as he accused the Supreme court of mandate banditry.

He also canvassed for the adoption of a single 6-year rotational presidency for the country.

Atiku spoke today, October 30, 2023, while addressing the press on the outcome of his election petition to the Supreme Court .

He also lambasted the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Supreme Court, which last Wednesday dismissed his appeal and that of Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), of rubber-stamping the alleged “mandate banditry”.

The former vice-president insisted that during the litigation process, he and PDP “showed irrefutable evidence” that APC’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was declared President by INEC and affirmed by the courts, “was not qualified to contest the presidential election because he forged his academic records” and was guilty of identity theft.

He also insisted that they provided enough proof that the election was marred by violence and irregularities and that “INEC violated its own laws in order to declare Tinubu President”.

He vowed that despite the turn of events, “I am not going to go away”, adding “As long as I breathe, I will continue to struggle with other Nigerians to deepen democracy and the rule of law. I will continue to work for the kind of political and economic restructuring that the country needs to progress.”

Atiku made a number of proposals to improve on Nigeria’s electoral system, including amending the Constitution to prevent any court or tribunal “from hiding behind technicality to okay electoral heist”; compulsory electronic voting and collation of results; and conclusion of all litigation arising from election before the inauguration of the winner.

He equally proposed a rotational 6-year single presidential term to prevent a situation where two regions gang up to rotate the Presidency among themselves.