Why I withdrew motion to inspect electoral materials – Atiku

Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar has said he withdrew a motion before the Appeal Court over a request to inspect electoral materials because the issue had been overtaken by events.

In a statement, Abubakar claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had previously given him permission to view the documents, which is why he withdrew the motion.

He said the clarification was important following insinuations and mischievous reporting of the withdrawal of the application for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to grant access to his legal team and the PDP on the inspection of the documents related to the Feb. 25 Presidential Election.

The appellate court had granted the request of PDP and Abubakar for an unfettered access to the INEC documents used for the presidential election.

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“On March 10, 2023, we filed a motion (number 12M) ex parte and affidavit of urgency to ensure the implementation of the court order.

“The court, however, asked that we put the president-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the INEC on notice.

“Consequently, we filed a motion on notice (number 13M) and motion ex parte (number 13MA) for substituted service on Tinubu,” he said.

Abubakar said when the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, the legal team withdrew the two motions.

He said the motions were withdrawn because access had already been granted on Tuesday to Abubakar and PDP.