Ozekhome faults presidential tribunal, says it’ll encourage corruption

The lead counsel to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said the case between Atiku Abubakar against President Muhammadu Buhari, decided on Wednesday “was poorly decided by the tribunal.”

According to Ozekhome, there was very poor evaluation of evidence. “There were pieces and instances in which only the evidence of the respondents, that is Buhari, Independent National Electoral Commission (EFCC) and All Progressives Congress (APC) were considered without that of Atiku and PDP being considered at all.

“There were many instances of misapplication of the provisions of the constitution, the Electoral Act, the INEC guidelines, INEC handbook and provisions relating to the existence of the Server owned by INEC. There were even instances when the Court of Appeal, the Election Petition Tribunal, behaved more like a Father Christmas by giving to the respondents what they did not ask for.”

The senior counsel cited instances. “For example, in their defence, they were merely saying, Buhari was qualified to contest the election, but when the court now came up by itself to say, Buhari was not only qualified but was eminently qualified, they were even granting to them more than they asked for.”

Ozekhome stated that it is of great concern that the judgment, if not challenged and reversed, will set a very bad precedent for the citizens of the country in terms of business dealings, in terms of educational qualifications, in terms of international trades and in terms of international investments.