Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has sued the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal and the PDP over the primary election conducted by the party.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/782/2022, Wike and a PDP chieftain, Newgent Ekamon, are listed as the plaintiffs. In the originating summons, the PDP is listed as the first respondent while the Independent National Electoral Commission is the 2nd respondent. Tambuwal and Atiku are listed as the 3rd and 4th respondents respectively.
The PDP is listed as the first respondent in the originating summons while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the second respondent.
Atiku and Governor Tambuwal are listed as the third and fourth respondents respectively.
In the presidential primary election, Tambuwal had reportedly asked delegates to vote for him and then had made a U-turn to request that they vote for Atiku.
Atiku had ended up polling 371 votes while Wike and Bukola Saraki got 237 and 70 votes respectively.
Tambuwal had been hailed as the “hero of the convention” by the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu.
Now, Governor Wike and his co-applicant are asking the court to determine eight issues including whether the purported transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku by the PDP was illegal and void.
The court is being asked by the plaintiffs to determine if Tambuwal lost his claim to votes the moment he stepped down for Atiku.
The plaintiffs are praying the court to “cancel the transfer of votes and a corresponding order restraining the 3rd respondent (Tambuwal’s) withdrawal in the primary was done after voting had commenced.”
Wike and Ekamon also want the court to order INEC to reject or remove Atiku from its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election.
The applicants also prayed the court to declare that the PDP and Atiku took undue advantage of Tambuwal’s withdrawal when they allowed the Sokoto governor to persuade delegates to vote for the former Vice-President in the primary.
Wike and Ekamon asked the court to order INEC to reject or remove Atiku from “its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election.”
They are also seeking an order commanding the PDP to recount the votes of the primary that was held on May 28 and May 29.
In a supporting affidavit he deposed to, Ekamon noted that he was a member of the PDP and attested to the fact that Wike won the presidential election.
He maintained that Tambuwal withdrew from the contest after voting had commenced and directed that his votes be assigned to Atiku.
“The third respondent (Tambuwal) speaking twice before stepping down from the contest, persuaded all his delegates who were going to vote for him to vote for the 4th respondent (Atiku).
“The 1st (PDP) and 4th (Atiku) respondents who also wanted the votes desperately agreed with the 3rd (Tambuwal) and assigned 3rd (Tambuwal) respodnent’s votes to the 4th (Atiku) respondent and increased his votes to win the 2nd applicant (Wike).
“The 2nd applicant (Wike) won the primaries if the votes of the 3rd respondent (Tambuwal) had not been transferred or assigned to the 4th respondent (Atiku).
