The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja yesterday upheld the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the February twenty-third presidential election.


The tribunal dismissed the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar’s petition for lack of merit.


Atiku had challenged the President’s re-election, citing election irregularities and non-compliance with the electoral act.


The five-man panel led by Justice Muhammad Garba ruled on several petitions relating to the presidential election.


In one of its rulings, the panel dismissed an application filed by INEC seeking the disqualification of Atiku’s lead counsel, Livy Ozoukwu, whom they described as a lawyer unknown to the judiciary.


The tribunal also dismissed the PDP’s claim on central server and electronic transmission of results insisting that the manual provided by INEC did not provide for electronic transmission of results.


It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Buhari, who represented the All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the election ,after polling fifteen million, one hundred and ninety-one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven votes while the PDP candidate garnered eleven million, two hundred and sixty-two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-eight votes.