Nigeria: Atiku, PDP defy persuasions, challenge Buhari’s victory in court

Atiku, PDP defy persuasions, challenge Buhari’s victory in court

Atiku, PDP defy persuasions, challenge Buhari’s victory in court

Despite heated persuasions from various angles, Nigeria’s opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have filed a motion in the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to surrender all the materials that were used for the February 23 presidential election, for inspection.

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The motion ex-parte was lodged before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal on Tuesday. The Tribunal will conduct its proceedings at the Court of Appeal Headquarters in Abuja. In the motion ex-parte dated March 4, Atiku and the PDP, applied for leave of the tribunal to allow them to inspect the Voters Register, the Smart Card Reader Machines, Ballot Papers and other vital documents that were used in the conduct of the presidential election. They equally prayed the tribunal to compel the electoral body to allow their agents to scan and make photocopies of vital documents used in the conduct of the election, for the purpose of establishing alleged irregularities.

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The Applicants, through their lawyer, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, told the tribunal that the reliefs sought against INEC was for the purpose of filing and maintaining an election petition they intend to lodge against the outcome of the 2019 Presidential Election. The motion ex-parte motion was supported with a 12 paragraphed affidavit that was deposed to by one Col. Austin Akobundu, rtd, the director of Contact and Mobilization of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council. Meantime, no date has yet been fixed for hearing of the motion which has INEC, President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, as 1st to 3rd Respondents. Atiku who came second behind President Buhari of the APC, had earlier vowed to challenge the outcome of the presidential election in court, alleging that it was fraught with manifest irregularities. He maintained that results collated by agents at various polling units across the federation, was at variance with what was eventually declared by INEC, in favour of President Buhari.