Atiku, PDP ask court to dismiss Wike allies’ suit challenging outcome of presidential primary

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have asked a federal high court in Abuja to dismiss a suit challenging the outcome of the party’s presidential primary.

In May, Nyesom Wike, Rivers governor, lost the party’s presidential ticket after Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto, stepped down and asked his supporters to vote for Atiku.

While the former vice-president secured 371 votes to become PDP’s standard-bearer, Wike secured 237 votes to come second.

Following the presidential primary, a lawsuit was instituted by some supporters of the Rivers governor.

In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/782/2022, Newgent Ekamon, a PDP chieftain, asked the court to order INEC to remove Atiku from “its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election”.

While the PDP is the first defendant, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tambuwal, and Atiku are second to fourth defendants, respectively, in the suit.

Although Wike has denied being involved in the matter, he is listed as the second plaintiff in the suit dated June 2 and filed on June 3.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to determine if the transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku is legal.

They asked the court to declare that it was wrong to assign Tambuwal’s votes to the former vice-president.

The plaintiffs also asked the court to direct “the first respondent (PDP) to declare the second applicant (Wike), a presidential aspirant in the May 28 and May 29 primary, as the winner of the aforesaid primary with a corresponding order directing the first respondent (PDP) to forward his name as the candidate to contest the presidential election in 2023″.

In a joint preliminary objection to the plaintiffs’ suit, PDP, Atiku and Tambuwal asked the court to dismiss the suit.

According to them, the suit “is unknown to law and/or not cognizable under a pre-election matter”.

They argued that Ekamon, who is the first applicant, having not participated in the primary conducted by the party, lacked the locus standi to institute the suit.

They further argued that the suit, as brought by the applicants, did not fall within “the purview of Section 84 of the Electoral Act, as such does not qualify as a pre-election dispute”, adding that “the instant suit was not initiated by due process of the law”.

Ahmed Mohammed, the presiding judge, on Wednesday, adjourned the matter till September 14 for hearing.