Tribunal Dismisses HDP’s Petition Against Buhari’s Victory

The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, yesterday, dismissed the petition the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), and its candidate, Chief Ambrose Owuru, filed to nullify the outcome of the February 23 presidential election and remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office.
HDP, in the petition marked CA/PEPC/001/2019, contended that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), failed to follow condition precedents stipulated in the Electoral Act, when it unduly postponed the presidential election that was originally fixed for February 16.
The party claimed that its candidate, Owuru, secured over 50million votes in a referendum that was conducted by both electorates and observer networks that were dissatisfied with the unilateral postponement of the presidential election by INEC.
It, therefore, urged the tribunal to uphold the outcome of the referendum “the people” conducted on February 16, and invalidate the “substituted election” and “undue return” of President Buhari.
Meanwhile, in a unanimous judgement, the Justice Mohammed Garba-led five-member tribunal, dismissed the petition as an abuse of the court.
Before it gave the final verdict, the tribunal, in line with paragraph 12(5) of the First Schedule to the Constitution and Section 285(8) of the Constitution delivered nine pending rulings in the matter.
In three of the rulings on motions that were filed by the respondents- President Buhari, INEC and the All Progressives Congress (APC) – the tribunal, struck out the petition.