Atiku, Obi file 86 grounds at Supreme Court

Atiku, Obi file 86 grounds at Supreme Court

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and his party have filed 35 grounds of appeal before the Supreme Court, seeking to quash the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) judgment which dismissed their bid to upturn the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election.

Also yesterday, Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi and his party filled 51 grounds asking the Supreme Court to void the PEPC decision.

The candidates and their parties filed their appeals 48 hours ahead of todays’ deadline, the 14th day after the September 6 judgment by the Court of Appeal panel, sitting at the presidential election tribunal. The five-man panel was led by Justice Haruna Tsammani.

The verdict, which was unanimous declared the petitions by PDP, LP, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and their candidates as unmeritorious, lacking a merit and for failure prove their cases beyond reasonable doubt.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeals, and the Supreme Court is yet to name the seven-man panel that will hear them.

Led by Dr Livy Uzokwu (SAN), Obi and his party filed appeal, praying the apex court to void Tinubu’s victory.

In the notice of appeal, the PDP and Atiku are contending, among others, that the judgment of the PEPC is against the weight of evidence.

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They are equally contending that the PEPC “erred in law when it refused to uphold the mandatory electronic transmission of results for confirmation and verification of final results introduced by the Electoral Act 2022 for transparency and integrity of results in accordance with the principles of the Act.”

According to them, the Electoral Act 2022 introduced technology in the conduct of elections, particularly in the transmission and collation of results, being part of the election process easily susceptible to manipulation and compromise.

In ground two, the appellants argued that the PEPC erred when, despite the clear provisions of enabling statutes, including the constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, the Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of elections and the Manual for Election Officials, it still proceeded to hold that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was not meant to be used to electronically transmit or transfer the results of the polling unit direct to the collation system.

The appellants faulted the PEPC for holding that the requirement of electronic transmission of the result of the election directly from the polling units to the INEC collation system is not a requirement of the Electoral Act, 2022.

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They are of the view that Section 60(5) of the Electoral Act,2022 makes it mandatory for the Presiding Officer to transfer the result of the election in the polling

unit together with the total number of accredited voters in such manner as INEC may determine.

In ground four, the PDP and Atiku are contending that the PEPC erred when it failed to hold that the non-use of electronically transmitted results by the 1st respondent’s (INEC’s)Collation Officers and Returning Officers for the collation and verification of election results before announcement, constitutes non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

According to them, the PEPC erred in law when it failed to determine the case of the appellants with respect to the mandatory verificatons and confirmations required before the announcement of the result of the presidential election, pursuant to Section 64(4) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

They also faulted the PEPC for failing  “to nullify the presidential election held on 25th February 2023 on the ground of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 when, by evidence before the court, the 1st respondent (INEC) conducted the election based on very grave and gross misrepresentation ,contrary to the principles of the Electoral Act 2022, based on the ‘doctrine of legitimate expectation.’