The immediate past National Legal Adviser of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Rafiu Balogun, has faulted the position of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on the just concluded presidential election.
Speaking with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti at the weekend, Balogun, a former chairman of NBA, Ilorin branch argued that Atiku’s verdict was at variance with local and international teams that monitored the poll.
In his opinion, Balogun described the elections as credible, adding that Nigerians must appreciate the electoral umpire .
The lawyer recalled that many elections held in the past under PDP administration were not only fraught with irregularities but were upturned by the tribunals.
Balogun said: “The nexus must be established that the winner actually authorized it. And you only have about 14 days or so to prove that. Even the governorship election cases that we normally prosecute, this aspect has remained the biggest task for the petitioner to prove. The way they now structured the procedure for tribunal, it would be difficult for the petitioner to establish this.
“Before, the law allows the petitioner to keep on proving his or case. Like what happened during Segun Oni and
Kayode Fayemi case that lasted for three and half years. My advise for Atiku, as a Nigeria and lawyer is that he should try another time. May be this is not his time.”
