Chris Uche SAN, the counsel for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the ongoing presidential election petition proceedings, Uche raised concerns over several broken agreements during the 2023 general elections. Uche’s remarks came as he sought permission from Justice Tsammani to include five junior lawyers as team members, contrary to the initially agreed upon three names.

During the announcement of the petitioner’s legal team, Uche requested the court’s indulgence to announce five names, citing “Order 3 Rule 11” as the basis for this allowance. However, Justice Tsammani emphasized the importance of honoring agreements and insisted on maintaining the agreed-upon three names for the presidential election case. This prompted Uche to respond, stating, “My Lord, there were many agreements in this election that were broken.”

The PDP and its presidential candidate are challenging the legitimacy of Bola Tinubu’s victory as the president-elect in the February 25 presidential elections. The petitioners argue that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to fulfill its promise of electronically uploading the complete accreditation data before declaring the winner.

Additionally, the petitioners claim that Tinubu did not secure at least one-quarter of the votes cast in the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. They assert that out of a total of 478,652 votes cast in the FCT, Tinubu received only 90,902 votes, which accounted for 18.99% of the total votes.

One of the contentions put forth by the petitioners is that for a candidate to be declared duly elected, they must obtain not less than one-quarter (25%) of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of all the states, including one-quarter of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja.

Alternatively, the PDP and Atiku are seeking a declaration from the court that Atiku be declared the winner of the election and be sworn in as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They are also praying for a court order directing INEC to conduct a run-off between Atiku and Tinubu.

The case highlights the PDP’s concerns over broken agreements and alleged electoral irregularities during the 2023 general elections. As the proceedings unfold, both sides will present their arguments, and the court will ultimately decide on the validity of the petition and its impact on the election results.