The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has assembled a team of 12 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to defend the election of its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu in the just concluded polls.
In a statement on Tuesday, the party’s National Legal Adviser, Ahmad Usman El-Marzuq, released the 13-man list comprising 12 senior advocates.
Top on the list is legal luminary, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Bola Tinubu as the winner of Feb 25th presidential election having polled 8,794,726 votes and winning in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, to defeat his closest rival Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 6,984,520 votes, while the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, finished the race with 6,101,533.
Both Atiku and Obi have rejected the outcome of the election and have gone to court, vowing to upturn the victory.
But the ruling party in a swift reaction says it’s ready to meet the opposition parties in court.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) has appointed a team of highly qualified and experienced lawyers to represent the Party at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal,” the statement read.
“The team is comprised of legal luminaries with vast experience in election petition matters, constitutional law, and litigation.
“The legal team consisting of twelve (12) Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the National Legal Adviser of the Party, Ahmad Usman El-Marzuq, Esq., is led by Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, a renowned lawyer who has successfully handled various high-profile election matters and other landmark cases.”
Other members of the list are Ahmad Usman El-Marzuq, Sam Ologunorisa, Rotimi Oguneso, Olabisi Soyebo, Gboyega Oyewole, Muritala Abdulrasheed, Aliyu Omezia Saiki, Tajudeen Oladoja, Pius Akubo, Oluseye Opasanya, Suraju Saida and Kazeem Adeniyi.
The party is “confident that the legal team possesses requisite expertise and experience to ensure a successful outcome for the APC in the Presidential Election Petition matters.”
It also urged party members to support the team in its effort to defend the will and mandate of the people, calling on all parties involved to conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism and respect for the rule of law throughout the legal process.
