Posted by By GODWIN TSA, Abuja on
Former Head of State and presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), General Muhammadu Buhari, has described the legal battle to upturn the election victory of President Umar Yar'Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a fight to the finish.
Former Head of State and presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), General Muhammadu Buhari, has described the legal battle to upturn the election victory of President Umar Yar'Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a fight to the finish.
Describing as untrue, insinuations that his party has compromised its position on the election petition by partaking in the proposed Government of National Unity (GNU), Gen. Buhari said rather than chicken out, there was a renewed effort by the party to challenge the result of the April 21 presidential election to a logical conclusion.
Speaking through his counsel, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN), Buhari said he was going to appear personally at the presidential election tribunal to prove to the whole world that he and majority of ANPP members were not part of the charade called GNU.
Making reference to some factions of the party which honoured the invitation to be part of the GNU, Buhari said democracy failed in Nigeria because of some gluttons who are hungry for political appointments.
According to him, "it is most indecent, unscrupulous, for people to run out of their party for office position." He called on Nigerians to have confidence in the ANPP as a leading opposition party, as the majority of its members are not part of the GNU.
Meanwhile, Buhari on Tuesday re-opened his quest to jail the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, for disobeying the order of the court. He told the court that he had made frantic efforts to personally service the INEC chairman the Form 48 as directed by court, but Prof Iwu tactically refused service.
Ahamba had told the tribunal that his earlier committal application was thrown out by the court because it was not personally served on the INEC chairman, adding that he has now done the proper thing, while the INEC boss thwarted his efforts.
Buhari's quest got a boost from the tribunal, which directed counsel to INEC, Chief Godwin Kanu Agabi (SAN), to work together with his lawyer to facilitate the service on the INEC chairman. They are to report back to the tribunal during the pre-trial conference.
Earlier at the tribunal, former vice president and presidential candidate of the Action Congress (AC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the presidential candidate of the National Action Congress (NAC), Dr. Olapade Agoro, renewed the quest to upturn the result of the April presidential elections at the tribunal.
Atiku was represented by a team of 20 lawyers, led by Professor Alfred Babatunde Kasumu (SAN), who informed the tribunal of a pending motion by his client. Others on his legal team include Rickey Tarfa (SAN), Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), and Emeka Ngige (SAN), among others.
The NAC presidential candidate, who was the first to address the tribunal, urged the court to dismiss the objections brought against his petition by INEC on the strength of incompetence.
Dr. Agoro, who addressed the tribunal personally, contended that INEC's objections did not challenge the competence of his petition but that of the tribunal.
Earlier, counsel to INEC and erstwhile Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Agabi, urged the court to dismiss the petition on the grounds that it was not competent. He told the tribunal that the petition failed to challenge the validity of the election into the office of the president and the vice president as provided for under section 139 of the 1999 constitution.
Ruling on the objections has been adjourned to July 20, 2007.