The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar says he will only drop his fight with President Bola Tinubu if the Supreme Court rules in the President’s favour.
Atiku made this known during a press conference to address the issue of President Bola Tinubu’s academic records released by the Chicago State University (CSU) in Abuja on Thursday.
Atiku, who came second in the election, had filed a petition challenging the poll’s outcome at the Presidential Tribunal, but the tribunal struck out his petition. Despite the ruling, Atiku appealed to the Supreme Court and filed a case in a US court to compel the release of official documents related to Tinubu’s educational qualifications.
“The case is still in court. I’ll only drop this fight if the court rules. If the court rules that I’m right, fine, if the court rules that Tinubu is right, fine. There’s no other court higher than the Supreme Court. That is where it all ends.” Atiku said when asked if he would ever step down the legal battle against President Tinubu.
He disproved allegations that he betrayed Tinubu, who many see as his former political ally.
“I disagree with Tinubu, yes it’s true that we came together in 2007. In Lagos, at the convention, I emerged winner and got the party’s ticket.
”After I got the ticket, he sent me about five or six senior party men, and they met me and said Bola (Tinubu) wanted to be my running mate.
“I said, gentlemen, you are all old enough, and asked, what would be your reaction to having a Muslim-Muslim ticket?
“They all answered that they objected to it, I then told them they should have told him and that was the end of the political relationship; he (Tinubu) broke away, and supported Umaru Yar’Adua. So what is the ground for him to say I betrayed him?
“In 2003, the PDP took over all the southwestern states with the exception of Lagos. I stood between Obasanjo and Tinubu and told Obasanjo to leave Lagos, and he left it. I vehemently deny that I stabbed Tinubu in the back.
“Till today, I won’t do a Muslim-Muslim ticket; I don’t have to be president; we are a multi-ethnic and multi-religious people, and our government must reflect our diversity, and our composition must reflect the same.”
Also, when questioned about rumours that some people had contacted him because of these problems to exert pressure on him and make an apparent presidential intervention to get Atiku to resign from this position, he said he did not allow them to reach him.
“Immediately after the elections, I was told there was a delegation of governors who claimed they were sent by the president, and I did not even allow them to get into my house – I didn’t,” he said.
Asked if he was worried that the powers that be in the presidency would jeopardise his business interests if he persisted in the certificate controversy, Atiku said he is not bothered.
His lawyer, Kalu Kalu, while speaking at the press conference about his findings from Tinubu’s academic records, accused President Tinubu of submitting a forged degree certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the election.
Kalu said that the released document backs forgery claims.
The President and his supporters have continued to deny the allegations of forgery.
