Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Robert Clarke, has posited that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi will return from the Supreme Court defeated in their attempt to upturn the ruling on the outcome of the 2023 polls.
Recall that the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), had on Wednesday, September 6, unanimously dismissed the suits by Obi and Atiku and affirmed the electoral victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its February 25 candidates, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima.
However, both Obi and Atiku in separate reactions rejected the verdict of the tribunal and vowed to challenge it at the Supreme Court.
Speaking on Channels Television, on Sunday, the senior lawyer observed that the unanimous tribunal judgment which affirmed the victory of Tinubu is already fixed.
According to him, the tribunal’s judgment was detailed and thorough, hence, opined that the matter does not need to go to the apex court.
“From my experience from the bar, I believe that the unanimous judgment of the tribunal is unassailable. It is as fixed as you can fix anything.”
“I assure you if there’s an appeal, I doubt whether anything can come out of the appeal.
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“I doubt if the Supreme Court can upturn the judgment of the tribunal.
“I make this submission because almost all the issues raised before the tribunal had been adjudicated upon by the apex court,” he said.
The lawyer added that in Atiku’s case, point of facts were canvassed and according to the law, when you canvass points of facts, you must provide the particulars upon which you want the court to make a pronouncement.
Clarke noted that the tribunal dismissed Atiku’s case because his lawyers didn’t provide any material of facts before it.
“Atiku failed to raise issues on point of law. How could he get a judgement in his favour” he queried.
On the petition by Peter Obi and LP, Clarke pointed out that almost all issues raised by them including the status of Abuja had been ruled upon by the Supreme Court in previous times, hence the Appeal Court is not expected to go against a Supreme Court ruling.
His words, “Almost all the four items that the Labour Party asked for were decisions that had been and heard upheld by the apex court.
“So, what are you asking the tribunal to do? To sit on an appeal against the judgment of the Supreme Court?
