By Yemi Oyeyemi, Abuja.
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last general elections, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, has pleaded with the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to summon enough courage to do substantial justice to his petition seeking the nullification of Ahmed Bola Tinubu as winner of the February 25 election.
Atiku pointedly said that contrary to the threat of Tinubu, heavens would not fall when he (Tinubu) is sacked by the tribunal as Nigeria president on the account of massive electoral fraud that brought him to the office.
In his final written address, Atiku dismissed Tinubu’s threat as an empty one deployed to scare the Tribunal from upholding justice in the petition challenging Tinubu’s election.
In the final written address settled by his lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, the former Vice President recalled the courageous position of the Supreme Court in the case of Rotimi Amaechi, where the apex court held that heavens would not fall when justice is done in the manner prescribed by law.
Justice George Adesola Oguntade, who delivered the Supreme Court judgment in the cited authority, had said, “I must do justice even if the heavens fall. The truth, of course, is that when Justice has been done, the heavens stay in one place and in peace.”
Atiku asked the Tribunal to invoke the courage displayed in the past Supreme Court judgment to settle his petition against Tinubu by disregarding the threat of monumental chaos issued by Tinubu to shield himself from justice.
The former Vice President maintained that Tinubu had lost the moral and legal rights to be in office as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, having admitted a punitive forfeiture of four hundred and six thousand United States of America Dollars in a narcotics and money laundering related matter.
Besides, Atiku accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating the results of the presidential election in the most corrupt manner in favour of Tinubu and thereafter, unlawfully proclaimed him (Tinubu) winner of the election.
Citing the brazen subversion of the popular will of the voters by INEC in favour of Tinubu, the former Vice President appealed that the proclamation of the electoral body be voided and set aside and in its place, declare him winner of the election having convincingly scored majority of the lawful votes.
