Seven states under the control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have withdrawn the lawsuit challenging the declaration of All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the winner of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023.
The Notice of Discontinuance was filed by the lawyer to the plaintiffs, Mr. Mike Ozekhome, on Friday.
The seven state governments include Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Taraba and Sokoto.
In the suit which had the Attorneys-General of the seven states as plaintiffs and the Attorney General of the Federation as defendant, Mr. Ozekhome stated: “Take notice that the plaintiffs doth hereby wholly discontinue this suit against the defendant herein.”
The suit challenged the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload the election results to the IReV through the BVAS.
The plaintiffs had, on February 28, filed the suit on the grounds that the collation of the national election results from the 36 states of the Federation, and that of the Federal Capital Territory, for the said 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections have not been carried out in compliance with the mandatory provisions of relevant sections of the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC Regulations and Guidelines.
They further alleged that the agents and officials of the federal government and INEC failed to transmit the collated result as prescribed by the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and other relevant guidelines.
The suit alleged in part: “Non-compliance with the due process of law has led to a widespread agitation, violent protests, displeasure, and disapproval from a wide spectrum of the Nigerian populace, including international observers, political parties, well-meaning Nigerians and former Heads of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The plaintiffs argued that the federal government through INEC “is empowered by law to correct the elections due to technical glitches and errors arising from the conduct of the elections with substantial effect on the electoral process in line with the provisions of Section 47 (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022; and other relevant sections thereof.
They also asserted that the governments and peoples of the states involved in the suit were entitled to a proper and electoral lawful process and procedure that guarantees a free, fair election.
They, therefore, sought a declaration that the entire results of the presidential election conducted on the 25th of February, 2023 announced by the Chairman of INEC at the National Collation Centre, Abuja were invalid, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever.
The plaintiffs also sought a declaration that the electoral process was fundamentally flawed through the non-uploading of the results of each of the 176,974 Polling Units nationwide.
In a sharp turn of events on Friday, however, the plaintiffs asked the court to discontinue the suit since the election has already been concluded and that the suit was filed while collation was still ongoing, adding that the elections tribunal is the next bus stop.
An observer, who spoke with News Band on condition of anonymity, meanwhile, expressed reservation that the PDP states are backing out when they should be crying loudest.
He further expressed worries that Atiku may have sold out when the real legal battle was about to begin in what he described as “the greatest political heist in the history of Nigeria”. Read more.
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