The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has lamented over the non-availability of the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) three days after it was delivered.
Atiku made this known via his legal counsels, who are yet to receive a copy of the judgment after formally applying to the court for certified true copies as of Friday.
According to the law, Atiku and his lawyers have just 14 days to file their appeal to the Supreme Court on the judgment.
Special Assistant to Atiku on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, in a statement on the matter, said, “By not making available to Atiku Abubakar, Presidential candidate of the PDP, the certified true copies of the judgment of Wednesday for its filings at the Supreme Court, the Presidential Election Petition Court, is undermining Atiku’s and Nigerians quest for justice.”
Shaibu reminded the PEPC that “it had made heavy weather at the delivery of its judgment on Wednesday that parties need to adhere strictly to the schedule set by the court.
“The PEPC is not oblivious that three precious days of the 14-day limit for parties to file their processes at the highest court have been wasted by the Appeal Court.
“We wish to remind the PEPC that it struck out the testimonies of some of the witnesses of Atiku during the litigation at the court of first instance because their statements on oath were filed out of time.
“And now, from all intents and purposes, the same court wants to have Atiku and PDP’s appeal to the Supreme Court disqualified by the reason of time deadline.
“There can be no justification for the PEPC not making available the CTC of its so-called judgment for Atiku to continue with his quest on behalf of over 200 million Nigerians for substantial justice as opposed to the decision rendered by the PEPC.
“It is curious that the same PEPC that claimed that the judgment was ready at the time it was delivered on Wednesday is still grappling with typos and errors, according to available information.
“It is anti-democratic of the court to steal, already at the last count, three precious days out of the 14-day time limit for Atiku to file his processes at the Supreme Court. The lost time would never be recovered.”
