PDP Presidential Primary: Wike suit against Atiku candidacy September;Atiku, Party ask court to dismiss Wike allies’ suit challenging outcome
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday fixed September 14 for the hearing in a suit instituted by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike against the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in the 2023 Presidential election.
Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed fixed the new date when the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and Atiku Abubakar formally announced their appearance in the suit.
PDP, Tambuwal, and Atiku who are 1st, 3rd, and 4th defendants respectfully were represented by a lawyer, Priscilla Ejeh at Wednesday’s proceedings.
INEC which is the 2nd defendant in the legal action was not represented in court.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have asked a federal high court in Abuja to dismiss a suit challenging the outcome of the party’s presidential primary.
In a joint preliminary objection to the plaintiffs’ suit, PDP, Atiku and Tambuwal have asked the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as unknown to law and/or not cognizable under a pre-election matter”.
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike had in May lost the party’s presidential ticket after the governor of Sokoto State Aminu Tambuwal stepped down and asked his supporters to vote for Atiku, who eventually secured 371 votes to become PDP’s standard-bearer.
Following the presidential primary, a lawsuit was instituted by some supporters of the Rivers governor, in which a PDP chieftain Newgent Ekamon asked the court to order INEC to remove Atiku from “its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election.
