The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the 2023 presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have filed a notice of discontinuance for the withdrawal of fresh application they filed demanding the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow their agents to participate in the process of sorting out ballot papers used for the 2023 presidential election.
It was gathered that the PDP and Atiku, separately challenging the result of the presidential election, after a meeting with INEC leadership, notified the Presidential Election Petition Court that they were no longer interested in the application.
Atiku’s legal team were said have held a meeting with the INEC leadership on Tuesday.
The PDP presidential candidate noted that the application was filed because of the challenges and administrative bottlenecks at the INEC office which obstructed the party’s mission when they went to access the election materials as ordered by the court.
All the contentious issues were said to be sorted out at the Tuesday meeting with the INEC. The commission was said to have conceded to allowing the party agents, observe the process of sorting out some of the electoral materials they requested for, especially, the ballot papers.
The Justice Joseph Ikyegh-led three-member panel struck it out after the withdrawal of the application.
Atiku had argued in the application that that it was necessary for agents of his party to be present during the sorting out of the electoral materials he would need to prepare a petition he intends to lodge against the outcome of the presidential election. He maintained that there was need for his agents to observe and participate in the sorting of materials he requested for in all the offices of INEC nationwide, in line with the ex-parte order the court made on March 3.
This, Atiku said, would ensure transparency in the process and guarantee that the ballot papers would not be tampered with.