Atiku asks Supreme Court to overrule tribunal on Buhari's victory

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have formally filed an appeal against the election tribunal judgement that upheld President Muhammadu Buhari's victory in the 2019 presidential election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared President Buhari the winner of the February 23, 2019 election with 15,191,847 votes. Atiku finished second with 11,262,978 votes.

Atiku and the PDP filed a petition against the result before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in March, alleging that the election was marred by irregularities in several states designed to hand the victory to the 76-year-old president.

However, in a ruling delivered two weeks ago, the Justice Mohammed Garba-led five-member tribunal panel upheld Buhari's victory and dismissed Atiku's five grounds of appeal.

In a fresh appeal before the Supreme Court, the former vice president and his party have now urged the apex court to overturn the tribunal's ruling for erring in law.