Nigeria’s Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Atiku Abubakar, its candidate in the last presidential election.
In a unanimous judgment, the Dattijo Muhammad-led five-man panel, dismissed the appeal, saying there was no basis to interfere with the earlier decision of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal rejecting the appellants’ request to access the said server.
Justice Chima Centus Nweze, who read the lead judgment of the apex court, said the appellants failed to establish that the tribunal wrongfully exercised its discretion in dismissing their request.
He added that they also failed to place sufficient materials before the apex court to show that the tribunal’s exercise of its discretion was either arbitrary or illegal.
Nweze further added that the allegation by the appellants that they were denied fair hearing by the June 24, 2019 ruling of the tribunal was unsubstantiated.
Atiku and PDP had alleged in their petition pending before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that the “authentic” results of the February 23, 2019 election which gave them victory were stored in the said INEC server.