The hearing of a set of applications filed by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging some decisions of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, has been adjourned until Aug.20.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the adjournment hinged on a fresh filing aimed at including additional facts and materials by the applicants.
Mr Paul Erokoro, SAN, Counsel for the applicants, had informed the court about the additional motion thereby stalling the proceedings.
Mr Yunus Usman, SAN, Counsel for INEC, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Counsel for President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Counsel for All Progressive Congress (APC) sought for time to react to the new issues raised by the applicants.
In a short ruling, Justice Mary Peter-Odili, who led a five-man panel of justices of the court, ordered that all applications be adjourned until Aug.20 for the respondents to file their reactions.
NAN reports that the applicants were challenging the alleged failure of the electoral body to allow them access to the acclaimed central server used for the Feb.23 general election.
The petitioners also approached the apex court to challenge the proceeding of June 11 at the tribunal where they claimed APC ambushed them by secretly withdrawing a motion and replacing same with another not responded to.
NAN reports that Justice Garba Mohammed, Chairman of the tribunal, had, in an unanimous decision on July 3, dismissed a prayer by the applicants to re-open arguments on the APC application that sought dismissal of the petition.
Garba held that the petitioners failed to adduce cogent reasons why such request should be granted, having failed to file a counter affidavit against issues raised earlier.
The tribunal had, on June 11, ruled that the petitioners failed to file counter affidavit against APC’s motion seeking dismissal of the petition on accounts of unsubstantiated allegations of non-compliance and malpractices.
The tribunal also held that its record showed that the petitioners were duly served with APC’s motion on May 16 which gave them seven days to file their counter-affidavit.
The APC had urged the tribunal to strike out allegations of widespread malpractices made on the conduct of the presidential elections in 10 states from the petition.
The party alleged grave errors, adding that the petition was shrouded in unsubstantiated issues in the 10 states.
The party also claimed that Atiku merely made vague allegations of electoral malpractices in the 10 states, adding that vague allegations were unknown to law. (NAN)
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