PDP accuses tribunal of validating perjury, heads to supreme court

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the judgment of the presidential tribunal which affirmed the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The tribunal had dismissed the petition of Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the PDP, who challenged the victory of Buhari in the February 23 election.

Reacting in a statement, Kola Ologbondiyan, its spokesman, described the judgement as “provocative, barefaced subversion of justice and direct assault on the integrity of our nation’s justice system”.

The party said it was particularly shocked that the tribunal failed to point to justice despite “the flawless evidence laid before it, showing that President Buhari was not only unqualified to contest the election but also did not score the majority of valid votes at the polls”.

“The PDP finds as bewildering that a court of law could validate a clear case of perjury and declaration of false information in a sworn affidavit, as firmly established against President Muhammadu Buhari, even in the face of incontrovertible evidence,” the statement read.

“The party is also rudely shocked that the Tribunal took over the roles of the Respondents’ lawyers who clearly abandoned their pleadings by refusing to call evidence in defense of the petition.

“The court raked up all manner of excuses to make up for the yawning gaps occasioned by the total absence of any evidence from the Respondents.

“Nigerians and the international community watched in utter disbelief when the tribunal ruled that one need not provide a copy or certified true copy of educational certificate such individual claimed to possess, contrary to established proof of claims of certification.”

The PDP also described as shocking that the court approved the “flawed declaration of President Buhari as the winner of the election despite evidence to show the perpetration of illegalities, manipulations, alterations, and subtraction of valid votes freely given to Atiku Abubakar by Nigerians.”

“The party notes as strange that the court even went ahead to provide rationalisation in favour of President Buhari even when all hard facts before it shows that he did not possess the claimed educational certificate and that the Army was not in possession of his WAEC certificate as claimed in the affidavit he deposed to in his Presidential nomination form,” PDP said.

The PDP, however, encouraged Nigerians to remain calm and not to lose hope or surrender to despondency or self-help, as its lawyers were upbeat in obtaining justice at the supreme court.