The Independent National Electoral Commission has been ordered by the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to permit their agents to take part in the process of sorting out the ballots that were used for the February 25 presidential election. However, this request has since been withdrawn.
The PDP and Atiku both informed the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, meeting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, that they have decided to withdraw their applications to contest the results of the election, which were declared in favor of Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
On Wednesday, when the motion ex-parte with the case number CA/PEC/10M/2023 was scheduled for hearing, Atiku informed the court that he had filed a notice of discontinuance through his legal team, which was led by Joe Kyari Gadzama.
A three-person panel led by Judge Joseph Ikyegh then dismissed the application.
Atiku’s legal team met with the leadership of the electoral commission on Tuesday, and as a result of that discussion, the decision to withdraw the application was made, according to a member of Atiku’s legal team who did not want his name publicized.