INEC server: Atiku faults Presidency’s position on Tribunal ruling

The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted the position of the Presidency on the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) central server.

The Tribunal had on Monday turned down the request by Atiku and the PDP to be allowed to inspect the said INEC server, a ruling which was celebrated by the Presidency through one of its spokesmen, Mallam Garba Shehu.

Shehu had hailed the ruling as a “landmark” and went on to say that “the existence of a purported server is being contested and if a purported inspection had been allowed at this stage, it would have amounted to the determination that it indeed existed even when its existence is being contested”.

In response to Shehu’s statement, Atiku insisted that he did not only win the February 23 election, but that the Muhammadu Buhari administration lacked the requisite executive temperament and capacity, as would be established in the course of time.

A statement Tuesday by Atiku’s media adviser, Mr. Paul Ibe, attempted to educate President Buhari’s spokespersons on the import of the said Tribunal ruling, insisting that the request by Atiku Abubakar and PDP to inspect the INEC server was not rejected.

“What the honorable Tribunal said is that it is still at preliminary stages and the main case HAS NOT begun and that the matter of granting access to inspect the INEC server is not relevant to the preliminary stages. It is a matter to be adjudicated upon when the case proper is being heard.

“As such, the celebration by the administration of General Buhari that their electoral heist has been covered is premature. Their giddiness has even blinded them to the eye witness testimony given to multiple media in interviews by staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission that there is indeed a server and that they actually submitted results and accreditation through it.

“In their rush to claim a Pyrrhic victory, the General Buhari administration missed out the fact that the 2019 budget has multiple line items for procurement, maintenance and service of the server they claim does not exist.

“Furthermore, the statement tried to spin the recent verdict on the election passed by the EU election observers. For the avoidance of doubt, what the EU report said is that the 2019 elections had SIGNIFICANT defects and fell short of the 2019 elections. It should be noted that one of the issues they raised is the attempt to muzzle not just the media, but more importantly, the judiciary.

“In the light of this, we remind those who are gloating in their ignorance that ‘he who laughs last, laughs best’.

“The last has not been heard of this matter and we eagerly anticipate the ACTUAL ruling of the Tribunal when the case proper begins,” Atiku said.