The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has threatened to obtain court order in order to stop the swearing in of all candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) “particularly President Muhammadu Buhari.
The party rejected the court order stopping the collation of pending results of the Bauchi governorship election describing it as unconstitutional.
A federal high court in Abuja had given an ex parte order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to halt the collation of results from Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi State.
The court gave the order while ruling on a suit filed by Mohammed Abubakar, governor of the state who is of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Reacting via a statement, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP spokesman, accused the APC of arm-twisting the judiciary over the election which he claims his party has won.
“Our party should not be constrained into a situation in which we will have no option than to allow our members to seek similar ex parte orders to halt statutory processes including the swearing-in of APC candidates at various levels, particularly President Muhammadu Buhari,” Ologbondiyan said.
“The party alerts that such development, which is akin to the infamous order that derailed the 1993 democratic process, is part of the plot by the APC and certain compromised elements in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to escalate crisis and derail our electoral process.
“The power to collate, suspend collation and or to reverse such decision based on obvious circumstances as the case in Bauchi is clearly within the domain of INEC.”
The party added that until collation is completed and results declared, “no one can question the constitutional powers of INEC.”
“Our party should not be constrained into a situation in which we will have no option than to allow our members to seek similar exparte orders to halt statutory processes including the swearing-in of APC candidates at various levels, particularly President Muhammadu Buhari,” it said.
“It is clear that collation of result is part of the electoral process and that INEC cannot act on a purported exparte order to jettison its independence and halt the collation of results, which is a key component of its statutory electoral duty.
“Our party therefore charges INEC to be properly guided by the law in this regard.”
…I’ll recover my stolen mandates – Atiku
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has reiterated that he willrecover his stolen mandate following his inauguration of a legal team to challenge the outcome of the February 23 presidential poll in court.
Paul Ibe, his media adviser, revealed this in a statement on Saturday.
The legal team is headed by Livy Uzoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated Abubakar with over three million votes.
Atiku had described the election as the worst in Nigeria’s history while vowing to seek redress in court.
“I have just inaugurated my legal team and charged them with the responsibility of ensuring that our stolen mandate is retrieved”, Ibe quoted Atiku to have said.
“I am encouraged by the presence of fearless men and women of the Bench. The judiciary which had in the past discharged itself ably is once again being called upon to deliver judgement on this matter that will be untainted by lucre and uncowed by the threat of immoral power.”
Sources told online medium, The Cable that two senior lawyers were threatened not to be part of Atiku’s legal team.
“The government threatened Kanu Agabi and Onyechi Ikpeazu, both SANs, not to be part of the legal team,” a source said.
The medium however could not independently verify this claim and Ibe was not available for comment as of the time this report was filed.
TheCable had earlier reported that Atiku would not concede the election and that his party had assembled a team of lawyers to challenge the result in court.
…your victory will be short-lived – Saraki to APC
The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has said that the victory of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the just concluded polls will be short-lived.
Saraki stated this yesterday at an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja.
Saraki explained that contrary to the views of many Nigerians, the outcome of the March 9 presidential election was a loss to the entire country and not just the PDP.
INEC had declared President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC winner of the election.
Buhari, according to the electoral body, scored 15,191,847 votes. Atiku Abubakar of the PDP garnered 11,262,978 votes to finish as runner-up.
But in his response to the declaration, the PDP candidate said the result was unacceptable to him and he would challenge it in court.
While delivering his remarks, Saraki further noted that the conduct of the election, including the role of the military during the exercise, has made the country a laughing stock in the international community, adding that the purported winners of the election are ashamed of the process.
“This victory that the other party has seen is going to be short lived. If anybody believes that it is a loss to PDP, it is a loss to the country that history will not forgive.”
“We said it many times here, that the worst to do is to do an election that as a country Nigeria will not be proud of.
“We have done an election that no doubt anybody and even those that think they have won are ashamed of the kind of election that we did.
“I think it is a shame to the country and to those that were given that responsibility to do. They have Saturday as their last opportunity to try as much as possible to reclaim part of their embarrassment to the country.”
Also speaking, the PDP vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, said he wondered the kind of legacy the APC administration is setting for the younger generation if they supervise electoral malpractices.
“As for me, while we blame the INEC and the security agencies, the biggest shame goes to those who are directing them to do the wrong thing.
“If you choose to be a leader, especially with APC that claims integrity, the biggest corruption and the biggest show of a government that does not believe in integrity is to rig election. Because the process through which you come into office, is far more fundamental than what you do thereafter.”
Earlier, the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, said the emergency NEC meeting is to enable party members deliberate on issues relating to the March 23 supplementary polls.
He cautioned the INEC chairman to ensure that the results of the supplementary polls reflect the wishes of the people of the affected states.
He charged the INEC boss to see the supplementary polls as an avenue for the electoral commission to redeem its credibility.
He also admonished the military personnel that might be deployed for the supplementary elections to stick to their rules of engagement.
