I didn't lose to Tinubu in presidential election - Atiku insists

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the just-concluded general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has once again refused to concede defeat to the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, by insisting that his victory was flawed.

The Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 election whose outcome has been dogged by controversy mainly over the commission's failure to transmit polling unit results in real-time as promised before the exercise.

But Atiku declared that, despite the efforts of the ruling APC to legitimise its victory at the poll, he didn't lose the presidential election.

He said this during his address at a reception and award ceremony organised by the PDP Governors Forum at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

Speaking at the event, which had in present the outgoing and incoming governors elected on the platform of the PDP, the former Vice President admonished the party faithful to remain steadfast and focused on the task of recovering the party's mandate in court.

Atiku also hammered on the need for party members to unravel the mystery behind the party's almighty fall from being the oldest and dominant political party in 1999 to its present unenviable position.

The former Vice President hinted that he had more to say when he said to the organiser of the event that, “Next time, this kind of event can be organized earlier in the day to allow us more time so that all the issues, and challenges, facing the party can be discussed.”

In his own welcome address, the Chairman of the PDP GF and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, recounted how the forum began and what it has been able to achieve.

Pulse reports that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has begun sitting on Monday, May 8, 2023, to hear petitions filed by five opposition parties against the victory of Tinubu.

Two parties, the Action People’s Party (APP) and the Action Alliance (AA), have since withdrawn their petitions after four days of proceedings at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.