The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his party have accused the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC of fighting a proxy war on behalf of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.
Counsel for the PDP and Atiku, Chris Uche, made the accusation when he countered the application filed by INEC’s counsel, Kemi Pinhero during the adoption of written addresses by parties at the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja.
INEC through its counsel said the allegations which formed 32 paragraphs in Atiku’s petition bordering on drugs and dual citizenship should be discountenanced by the court for lack of jurisdiction among others.
But the petitioners’ counsel, Uche filed a counter affidavit in opposition to INEC’s request and asked the court to dismiss the electoral body’s application.
He argued in the counter affidavit that it was not the duty of INEC to defend Tinubu.
Specifically, Atiku’s lead counsel insisted that INEC ought to be neutral but somersaulted by turning itself into a busybody and meddlesome interloper in taking up the defence of Tinubu against the provisions of the law.
He told the five-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani that INEC is fighting a proxy war on behalf of Tinubu which according to him is supposed to be a neutral body.
He, therefore, asked the Court to dismiss INEC’s motion for being a gross abuse of court process, lacking in merit and grossly incompetent.
Justice Tsammani has fixed the ruling of the applications till the date of judgment in the substantive petition.
