The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was ordered by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to permit their agents to take part in the process of sorting out the ballots and electoral papers used for the February 25 presidential election.
This request was subsequently withdrawn by the PDP and Atiku Abubakar.
The All Progressives Congress, or APC, candidate Bola Tinubu won the poll, but the PDP and Atiku are contesting that result.
On March 15, attorneys for the PDP and Atiku informed the PEPC, which was in session at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, that they were no longer interested in the petition.
According to sources from VANGUARD, when the motion ex-parte, marked: CA/PEC/10M/2023, was called up for hearing on Wednesday, Atiku informed the court that he had filed a notice of discontinuance through his team of attorneys, which was led by Mr. Joe Kyari Gadzama, SAN.
The action was taken during a Tuesday meeting between the electoral body’s leadership and Atiku’s legal team.
Atiku had argued in his withdrew plea, which was based on 11 grounds, that party representatives needed to be present while the voting papers were being sorted so he could prepare a petition he planned to file contesting the results of the presidential election.
In accordance with the ex-parte ruling the court issued on March 3, Atiku stated that it was necessary for his agents to witness and participate in the sorting of materials he sought in all INEC offices nationwide.
A three-member panel led by Judge Joseph Ikyegh dismissed the application after it was withdrawn.
