Atiku loses bid to inspect INEC server

ABUJA – The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja today dismissed application of the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Atiku seeking to inspect server deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) during the 2019 general election.

The 5-man panel unanimously refused the request, saying the request could not be granted because issues had been joined by parties over the existence or otherwise of the server.

According to them, it is impossible for the tribunal to delve into the server issue at the interlocutory stage of the panel’s sittings.

The PDP had filled a petition before the tribunal to compel INEC to grant them access to the server and smart card readers used in the conduct of the election. But the counsel representing INEC, Yunus Usman, in a counter affidavit asked the court to dismiss the application.

“They are asking us to bring something we do not have,” Mr Usman said.

But INEC has in the past said it has a server it intends to deploy in the 2019 election.