Atiku vs Buhari: Tribunal sets new date for final judgment

TRACKING >The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has set September 13, 2019, to convey judgment on Atiku Abubakar‘s body of evidence against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Kemi Filani News comprehends that Abubakar, the Presidential candidiate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party, is testing the result of the February 23 race which President Buhari was proclaimed the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

This online news platform reviews that the council had set September 15 to announce judgment on the issue yet the said date 15 is never again sensible in light of the fact that it is a Sunday.

Giving a report on the anticipated judgment, a source at the court disclosed to LEADERSHIP last night that the judgment will be delivered on Friday, September 13.

Kemi Filani News comprehends that segment 134 (1) to (3) of the Electoral Act gives that a race appeal ought to be documented, heard and decided inside 180 days.

This section came into existence following a situation where election petitions took up to four years before being resolved, leading to the disruption of the political process in the country.

The source revealed to LEADERSHIP that: ‘’the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the February 23 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his party, will definitely be decided before September 15.

‘’They (the tribunal) cannot go beyond that date in deciding the petition one way or the other because, by law, that is how far they can go in the case. They can’t sit beyond that day. They are not permitted to do so by law. The 180 days stipulated by the law will elapse that day,’’ the source said.