Robert Clarke Reacts To Presidential Tribunal Ruling In Atiku vs Buhari

Robert Clarke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has agreed with the tribunal over its judgment on the 2019 presidential election involving President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Naija News had reported earlier that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) on Wednesday dismissed the petition of the PDP and its presidential candidate.

Delivering judgment, Justice Mohammed Garba, who led a five-man panel of justices, said: “This petition is accordingly, and hereby dismissed in its entirety.

“In the final result, and I have come to the conclusion which is inevitable and unavoidable, that the petitioners have not proved any of the grounds of the petition in paragraph 15 of the petition.

“This petition is accordingly and hereby dismissed in its entirety.”

Speaking shortly after the tribunal upheld Buhari’s victory, Clarke said the petitioners failed to show why Atiku should have been declared the winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s electoral umpire.

“The petitioners failed woefully to prove their case,” Clarke said, praising the tribunal for clarifying the certificate saga of President Buhari.

According to Clarke, the PDP’s star witness that was supposed to prove that INEC transmitted results via a server, was unconvincing.

His words: “They have an array of lawyers there. Why should they bring a man as their sole witness to talk about server when he knows nothing about it? That is their point, but they have to pay the price.

“Secondly, on the question of certificate, the Constitution says you either have a certificate or you have attained certain training. Buhari went to the army and came out as a General. The school, even if nobody brought any evidence, the military (evidence) that was produced at the Tribunal was enough to indicate that he went to school, he sat for an exam and he entered an institution that was higher than a school certificate and he came out as a General. So, don’t let us beat about the bush. They have failed. It is their fault and they have to live with it,” Clarke added.