The presidential election petition tribunal has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) access to all certified copies of the materials used in conducting the 2019 presidential election.
It however refused to grant the prayers asking INEC to make available all polling documents for forensic analysis as requested by the applicants.
These were the highpoints of the tribunal’s ruling on its first day on petition filed before the tribunal by Atiku, the PDP candidate and his party challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress at the poll.
Announcing the results of the February 23 poll, INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu declared Buhari president-elect with total votes of 15,191,847 while Atiku scored11,262,978.
The result however did not go down well with Atiku and his party, who said the outcome of the poll was not a true reflection of the exercise.
Notwithstanding the many pleas from prominent individuals and groups that the PDP candidate should accept the outcome, he and his party still went ahead to file a petition at the presidential election petition tribunal.
Kick-starting the sitting Wednesday, the tribunal said the petitioners should be allowed access to inspect the materials as requested.
This, the panel ruled, was pursuant to section 151(1 &2) of the Electoral Act as amended in 2010 which states that:
*(1) An order for an inspection of a polling document or an inspection documents of a document or any other packet in the custody of the chief national electoral commissioner or any other officer of the commission may be made by the election tribunal or the court if it is satisfied that the inspection is required for the purpose of instituting, maintaining or defending an election petition.
*(2) A document other than a document referred to in subsection (I) of this section relating to an election and which is retained by the chief national electoral commissioner or any other officer of the commission in accordance with this section shall be open for inspection on an order made by the election tribunal or a court in exercise of its powers to compel the production of documents in legal proceedings, but shall not otherwise be open for inspection.
The three-member panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki also ordered INEC to make available to both Atiku and PDP all documents and electoral materials used for the election for the purpose of the inspection.
Delivering a unanimous ruling on the exparte motion, Aboki, however, refused the applicants’ prayers for scanning and forensic analysis of the election materials.
The court also refused to direct INEC to make available all polling documents for forensic analysis as requested by the applicants.
The court, in addition, refused to order the electoral body to permit forensic experts of the applicants to examine form EC48 and other relevant forms used for the election.
Aboki said the applicants’ lawyer, Chris Uche, SAN, rightly based his argument on a previous decision of election petition tribunal, but observed that the decision which permits applicants to inspect, to scan for forensic analysis had been overruled by “this court(appeal court) because it confers unfair advantage to the applicant.”
Agbakoba
Meanwhile, Mr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has said his position on the decision by both Atiku and PDP to contest the outcome of the polls was wrongly presented and perceived by the public.
The former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) said this in a statement made available to journalists Wednesday.
The silk was reported to have said the former vice president should shun any litigation on the outcome of the poll.
In his latest statement however, Agbakoba said his advice on the seeming futility of the PDP’s application should not be taken to mean he was suggesting Atiku and his party would fail at the tribunal.
He said: “Much has been made about my position on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, approaching the court to challenge the result of the February 23, 2019, presidential election.
“I have been misquoted to say the former vice president will lose at the presidential election tribunal. That is far from the truth. I meant the former vice president will face an uphill task, given the circumstances of challenging the election results.
“My initial decision to charge former Vice President Atiku, not to go to court is based on the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari has subverted the Supreme Court by the removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen and the appointment of the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.
“My perception is that we need to resolve the status of the Supreme Court. I wonder what is taking the National Judicial Council (NJC) so long. I am also worried about the historical precedent, as no petition on presidential election result has ever succeeded.”
“As an experienced election petition lawyer, the right activist said the burden of proof to succeed in an election petition is “unfairly huge.
“We first have to prove that there are electoral irregularities and in my view, once you prove this, you should succeed.
“Unfortunately, even if you prove electoral irregularities you will have to show how that affected the results of the election. Remember that the gap between Atiku and President Buhari is about four million votes.”
