Election Verdict: Tribunal Dismisses PDP’s Claim that Security Operatives Rigged for Buhari

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has Wednesday, dismissed parts of the PDP petition alleging that the ruling APC used security officers to manipulate the 2019 election.

The court’s decision followed an application by INEC seeking the nullification of various parts of the petition by the PDP.

The PDP had in its petition accused the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari, and major government agencies including INEC and security agencies of culpability in the manipulation of election results to the benefit of Mr Buhari.

The court during a decision on Wednesday before the final determination of the petition, ruled that INEC was right in submitting that the PDP ought to have included the security officers mentioned in the petition as part of the suit.

The court removed parts of the petition relating to the alleged involvement of security officers in the manipulation of results as put forward by the PDP.

The court had earlier refused the application by INEC to nullify the documents and witnesses put forward by the PDP on the grounds that the petitioners made wrong spelling of the lead counsel, Levi Uzoukwu’s name in their petition.

The PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, are challenging the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari for his second tenure as president in the general elections conducted on February 23.