Atiku’s Camp Reacts To Tinubu’s 50-man Legal Team, Optimistic Of Victory In Court

The camp of the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the 50-man legal team inaugurated by president-elect, Bola Tinubu to defend his mandate.

Naija News reports that Atiku has said the list of over 50 senior advocates assembled by Tinubu for the election petition case is evidence of his desperation.

The PDP flag bearer, who reacted through his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu told our correspondent “The judiciary remained the last hope of the common man and Nigerians were looking to the third arm of government to save democracy.”

The president-elect as earlier reported by this online news platform has inaugurated a team of 49 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to defend his election at the February 25, 2023, presidential election before the presidential election petition tribunal sitting at the Court of Appeal.

It was gathered that the inauguration was held at the Ikoyi office of his lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN).

Tinubu told the 50-member team which would be led by Olanipekun that the task before them is not just about defending his election, noting that it is a task that has the defence of democracy as its major prime.

However reacting to the development, Shaibu in a telephone interview with Naija News submitted that his principal was confident of victory in court despite all the scores of lawyers hired by Tinubu.

Atiku’s aide advanced that “Tinubu claims he won the Presidential election fair and square despite obvious infractions as well as reports from observers and media organisations stating that the election was not only fraught with irregularities but also below the expectation of Nigerians.

“Despite his claim, he and his party have hired over 50 senior advocates to defend the outcome of the fraudulent election.

“It is on record that despite the many fraudulent Presidential elections that have been conducted in this country, no court has ever upturned the result of any Presidential poll. But elections have been upturned in Kenya and Malawi without any hassle.

“The time for the judiciary to do the right thing is now. It is time for the third arm of government to step up and save Nigeria’s democracy from collapse. A situation where the people lose hope in the judiciary can only birth anarchy. All we demand is fairness.”

It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu as the winner and president-elect from the February 25th poll.

The former Lagos State governor polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku and Peter Obi who got 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes, respectively

However, Atiku and Obi rejected the results announced by INEC, alleging that the results were rigged and full of irregularities, therefore declaring their intentions to take legal action to redeem their mandates.