Atiku files for access to all INEC materials used in presidential election

The People’s Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has filed for access to all INEC materials used to conduct the presidential election before the tribunal.

Atiku and PDP filed the ex-Parte application before the Presidential election petition tribunal seated at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

The motion filed by the PDP candidate and the party seeks to get permission to the database of the smartcard readers and all the election materials for audit.

The PDP presidential candidate in the February 23 election, lost to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

After the result of the presidential election was announced, Atiku called the election a sham and rejected the result and said he will challenge it in court.

Atiku decried the militarization of the electoral process, the ‘statistical impossibility’ of states ravaged by the war on terror generating much higher voter turnouts than peaceful states, and the suppressed votes in PDP strongholds.

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, the former vice president lost the election with more than a three million vote margin.

Atiku claimed he would have called the victor within seconds of his being aware of his opponent’s victory if he had lost in a free and fair election.

The spokesperson of the APC presidential campaign council, Festus Keyamo, said the Atiku has a right to head to court and that the APC is anxious to meet Atiku in court.

“Our official position is that we believe that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has a constitutional right to seek redress in court and we do not seek in any way to curtail that right.

“In fact, it is the resort to court that is the only democratic way to ventilate his perceived grievance and any attempt to restrict or discourage the exercise of such right would be an invitation to anarchy,” he said.

“In addition, we are very anxious to meet Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in court in order to show the world in a conclusive manner the free and fair nature of the comprehensive defeat of Atiku at the polls. An election is not termed ‘rigged’ only by the mere claim of it by the loser. That is what Atiku and the PDP want to ram down our throats.”