Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2023 election, has given conditions under which he would drop the “fight” against President Bola Tinubu over alleged forged Chicago State University certificate.
Atiku, who came second in the election, had challenged the victory of the president in court, but lost as the Presidential Tribunal, struck out his petition.
The allegation of forgery was one of those dismissed by the presidential election court. Despite the court’s ruling, Atiku continued his case at the US court, which eventually ordered the release of official documents Atiku is seeking to include in his appeal at the Supreme Court.
He had argued that there were discrepancies in the Chigaco State University certificate Tinubu submitted to the INEC which should have rendered him ineligible to contest the election.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku said he was not ready to back down from his course.
“I have already filed my appeal against him at the Supreme Court. It is only when the court rules that he is right that I will drop this fight; in other words, I will drop this fight when the court rules because there is no court higher than the Supreme Court.”
Asked if he was under pressure from Tinubu to drop the case, Atiku said after the election, he learnt that a delegation of governors were sent by the president to reach out to him.
“I didn’t even let them come to my house,” said the PDP presidential candidate, a comment that attracted laughter in the hall.
He also added that he was not afraid that they would go after his business interest, narrating how the licence of Intels, a logistics firm he co-owned, was revoked under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.