Not a single one of the over 50 lawyers, among them Senior
Advocates of Nigeria, who represented defeated PDP candidate Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, was present at the Supreme Court on Friday, November 15th as the
court gave an elaborate ruling on Atiku’s appeal challenging the re-election of
President Muhammadu Buhari.
In contrast, lawyers to Buhari, the winner of the poll, the
All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission
were present ahead of the proceedings. The Atiku lawyers did not send any
apology to the court, but it is believed they kept away because of the position
of their principal, Atiku Abubakar, who made the unproven allegation that the
court was under the influence of a ‘dictatorial cabal’.
Dr. Livy Uzoukwu SAN, headed the long list of lawyers that
represented the defeated candidate, now living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
A seven-man panel of the court headed by Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad had in
its judgment on October 30, 2019, dismissed the appeal and announced that it
would give the reasons for its decision on a date to be later announced. Justice John Okoro is reading the elaborate
judgment today.
The apex court on Wednesday notified lawyers to parties in
the appeal to come for the reasons behind its verdict. The notice signed by Ibrahim Gold, a
Registrar at the Supreme Court reads: “IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA HOLDEN
AT ABUJA. SC 1211/2019: Atiku Abubakar & anor V. INEC & 2 Ors. “TAKE NOTICE that the REASONS FOR THE
JUDGEMENT delivered on Wednesday the 30th day of October 2019 in the above
named Appeal will be listed before the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday the
15th day of November, 2019 at 9.00am.
“AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that in accordance with the Supreme
Court Rules, this Notice is deemed sufficiently served on you if it is
delivered on your telephone”
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