Election Tribunal: Atiku To Challenge Kano, Kebbi And Nine Other States’ Results

The Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate in the February 23, 2019 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, presented their first set of six witnesses at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in their bid to prove their petition challenging outcome of the polls. They are by their petition filed before the Justice Mohammed Garba-led tribunal of five justices, challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress at the polls. The petitioners presented their witnesses just as there were indications that they would challenge the results of the presidential election in 11 states. Monday was the third of the 10 days the petitioners were allotted to present their case. A former ally of Buhari, Buba Galadima, was the first witness presented by the petitioners at the Monday’s proceedings, contending that Buhari was not academically qualified to contest the presidential election. Others included three Independent National Electoral Comimssion’s ad hoc workers serving in different capacities during the election, who testified that they transmitted the results of the election electronically as INEC trained them to do. Others were party agents, who alleged harassment and intimidation of voters at their polling units. Indication emerged on Monday that the petitioners might limit their challenge of the outcome of the polls to 11 states. The petitioners tendered the last set of result sheets for the states on Monday. The states are: Niger, Yobe, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kano, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna and Zamfara. The petitioners tendered through their lead counsel, the result sheets for Zamfara State, those for the four remaining local governments of Kano, having tendered those for the rest of the local governments of the state on Friday. They had tendered the result sheets for the nine other states last week. They also tendered among other exhibits, newspapers certified by the National Library on April 8, 2019. They also tendered a document certified by INEC containing the total number of registered voters and collected Permanent Voter Cards for the 2019 general elections. They tendered Form EC8E dated February 27, 2019, which is the final results of the February 23 presidential election as declared by INEC. They also tendered 10 press releases by INEC and which were certified by the commission. The proceedings continue on Tuesday. The respondents objected to the admissibility of almost all the documents as exhibits but would only give their reasons for their objection at the final address stage. Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, on Monday made his first appearance at the tribunal. Oshiomhole arrived at the courtroom at 9.36am on Monday barely some few minutes before the five-man panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba started sitting. He sat inbetween the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and leader of the APC from Adamawa State, Nuhu Ribadu, and a PDP leader, Tom Ikimi. On Ikimi’s left was the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Kola Ologbondiyan. When the proceedings began, Oshiomhole announced himself as representing both Buhari and the APC, the second and the third respondents to the petition. Ologbodinyan represented the PDP.