A certified copy of the verdict was not made accessible by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal until three days after it was given, according to Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate.
Atiku’s lawyers have not yet received a copy of the ruling.
According to reports, the lawyers formally requested certified genuine copies from the court on Friday.
The former Vice President and his team of lawyers have just 14 days to approach the Supreme Court with their appeal against the PEPC ruling.
Atiku spoke in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu.
The statement said, “By not making available to Atiku Abubakar, Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, the certified true copies of the judgment of Wednesday for its filings at the Supreme Court, the Presidential Election Petition Court, is undermining Atiku’s and Nigerians quest for justice.”
Shaibu reminded the PEPC that some of the testimonies of Atiku’s witnesses were struck out during Wednesday’s ruling simply because their statements on oath were filed out of time.
He said the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal is not oblivious that Atiku has already lost three days of the 14-day limit stipulated for filing in their processes at the Supreme Court.
“And now, for all intents and purposes, the same court wants to have Atiku and PDP’s appeal to the Supreme Court disqualified by the reason of time deadline.
“Does the PEPC not understand that the lawyers representing Atiku/PDP need to digest the judgment as contained in the CTC, which represents the authentic pronouncements made in court on Wednesday, in order to formulate its case for filing?” Shaibu queried.
