Following
the outcome of the February 23 presidential election, the court of Appeal has
issued out last warning to The Independent National Electoral Commission and
the All Progressives Congress ( APC) to have till Thursday to file their
responses to the election petition jointly filed by the Peoples Democratic
Party and its presidential candidate, HE Alhaji Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Gcon,
challenging the outcome of the February 23 presidential election.President
Muhammadu Buhari, who is the candidate of the APC, has till at least April 16
2019 to respond to the petition.
Atiku
Abubakar and the People’s democratic party (PDP), on March 18, 2019 filed the
petition before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, challenging the
declaration of Buhari and the APC as the winner of the just concluded
presidential election
According to the petitioners who claimed that contrary to
INEC’s declaration, the PDP’s candidate was the valid winner of the 2019
presidential election.The petitioners claimed that contrary to INEC’s
declaration, the PDP’s candidate was the valid winner of the election. INEC, Buhari
and APC are the first to the third respondents to the petition, respectively.
Source
has it that Buhari, INEC and APC none of the three had filed their responses to
the petition regarding Atiku’s action as meaningless.Paragraph 10(2) of the
Electoral Act, 2010 provides for a period of not more than 21 days within which
a respondent must reply to an election petition from the date of being served
with it.
The
said Paragraph 10(2) provides, “The non-filling of a memorandum of appearance
shall not bar the respondent from defending the election petition if the
respondent files his reply to the election petition in the Registry within a
reasonable time, but, in any case, not later than twenty-one (21) days from the
receipt of the election petition.”
The
petitioners served the petition on INEC and APC on March 22, but was unable to
serve same on Buhari until they were able to obtain a March 27 order of the
Court of Appeal in Abuja permitting them to serve the President through
substituted means.
“The
registry of an election petitions tribunal opens on Saturdays and Sundays; so,
there is no excuse for anyone not to meet the time limit.”The non-filing of a
reply within time, simply means the respondent has no defence.” There are now
four petitions challenging APC’s victory at the presidential poll.
A
legal practitioner, Mr Tunde Falola, said, “A respondent, who does not file his
reply to the petition within time has no defence to the petition and he would
be deemed to have accepted those allegations contained in the petition.
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