BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – The Supreme Court for the second time in one day dismissed another appeal by opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar seeking to access for inspection the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s server purportedly deployed for the February 23, 2019 poll
In the appeal marked SC/815/2019, the PDP and Atiku had sought to reverse the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT)’s ruling that rejected their request to inspect the so-called central server supposedly used by the electoral umpire for the election.
In their unanimous judgment on Tuesday, the apex Court’s five-member panel, led by Justice Datijo Mohammed, described the appeal as a waste of time and without basis.
Reading the lead judgment, Justice Chima Nweze said: “I see no reason for departing from the reasoning of the lower court. I find that this appeal is without merit, and it is accordingly dismissed.”
Justices Mohammed, Kumai Akaahs, Paul Galumje and Uwani Abba-Aji, who are the other members of the panel, agreed with the lead judgment.
In its ruling on June 24, 2019, the PEPT had dismissed an application by Atiku and the main opposition party seeking permission to have access to the central server, which they claimed INEC deployed for the February 23 presidential election in which INEC declared President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the lawful winner.
Dismissing the application, the Tribunal maintained that INEC, having denied the existence of the said server and insisting that results of the election were not electronically transmitted into any server as claimed by the petitioners (Atiku and PDP), granting the application would amount to deciding the central issue in the petition at the interlocutory stage.
According to the Tribunal’s presiding Justice, Mohammed Garba, granting the application would imply that the court had “indeed recognised and found out that there is a central server into which results of the election held on February 23, 2019 were electronically transmitted by the 1st respondent (INEC).”
It is this Tribunal’s ruling of June 24 that Atiku and the PDP challenged at the Supreme Court, in the appeal marked SC/815/2019.
Similarly, the apex Court had earlier in the day struck out another appeal by the PDP and Atiku, as it relates their participation in the last presidential poll.
The appeal marked SC/739/2019 was filed against a ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) which held that Atiku and the PDP do not have a reply to an application filed on May 14, 2019 by the APC seeking among others, the dismissal of their petition challenging President Buhari’s victory at the last presidential election.
In its ruling, a five-man panel led by Justice Datijo Mohammed struck out the appeal for having become statute-barred.
Details later…
