Tribunal’s ruling confirms our position that Atiku, PDP’s petition is frivolous – APC

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has lauded the judgement of the 2019 Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal which dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The APC, in a release on Wednesday through its National Publicity Secretary Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the legal affirmation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s election was a victory for rule of law and decency.

Issa-Onilu, who congratulated President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, all members party members and ‘well-meaning’ Nigerians on what he called ‘landmark judgement’, also hailed the judiciary for refusing to succumb to the opposition party’s ‘subterfuge’.

He said the APC was not perturbed over the PDP and Atiku’s petition which he added would ‘go down in Nigeria’s history as the most frivolous’ in the history of Election Petition.

He said the position of the ruling party that the PDP and Atiku’s petition was ‘a complete waste of time’ had been justified, stating that ‘in their puerile efforts, they insisted on taking the country on a circus and wild goose chase.’

He said, “We note the painstaking efforts and thoroughness of the Justices of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in arriving at their decision. The judgement, no doubt, would go down in the annals of our nation as the longest and detailed, spanning almost 10 hours.

“The judgement by the five-member validates the decision of most Nigerians to do away with the past as expressed in their overwhelming votes in the 2019 elections.

“The PDP and Atiku’s petition was largely hinged on the educational qualification of President Muhammadu Buhari and tales of an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) server and allegations of electronic transmission of election results. This was rightly dismissed by the tribunal for lacking in merit….

“Going forward, APC’s victory at the presidential polls and the election tribunal represents our collective desire as a people to remain focus on the progressive growth and development of our country’s economy, fight against corruption, and providing security.

“Consequently, we have taken a bold step by rescuing our nation from the satanic era of PDP, when our collective interests were being corruptly traded among a few pillagers.”

The APC spokesman, who said the ruling party noted the ‘continuous’ efforts being made by the ‘unpatriotic elements’ in the PDP  to truncate the movement towards greatness, added that the party, however, remained resolute in the journey being led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said the APC administration would lead the country to the fulfilment of its destiny.