The presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has again called for the nullification of the April 21, 2007 presidential election won by President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua.
Buhari made the call in his closing address to the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja, which is expected to be adopted today. He based his call on the fact that there was no election in 29 states of the federation.
He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials arbitrarily awarded results in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He restated his earlier evidence in the final address submitted to the election petition tribunal wherein he said that voters� register was so irregular �that even photos of children featured in many documents�.
He claimed he had been able to establish beyond reasonable doubt that results in forms EC8D(A)s and EC8E were arbitrarily assigned without any election.
Buhari through his lawyer, Mike Ahamba (SAN), stated that he had shown through different documents that the results were written on different days, even prior to the election, and after the result had been announced.
�It is submitted that where the so-called final result contains figures that were said to have arisen before the date of election and even after the so-called final result had been announced, then it would take minimal objectivity to come to a conclusion that the final result was arbitrarily put together,� he said.
He urged the tribunal to take cognisance of the evidence that results were in existence before the date of the election and that whether the petitioner nor the 5th and 6th respondents made use of original election documents in the petition �which proves that the documents were not made available to the candidate during the electoral process.�
He said: �The extent of damage occasioned by the widespread illegalities and improprieties and for which the respondents did not offer any explanation whatsoever or even attempt to do so, have rendered the election as being so badly conducted that no electoral benefit is derivable from it by anyone.�
He further submitted that non-compliance with several sections of the Electoral Act 2006 and total lack of respect manifested by the 1st and 2nd respondents in the conduct of the elections and the total absence of rebuttal explaining the circumstances under which the documentary illegalities were perpetrated had pointed a clear direction to the tribunal on the merit of his petition.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu, in his recent response to questions posed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had explained how the contract for the printing of ballot papers was awarded to the Nigerian Security, Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC).
His response had generated comments by other contestants in the controversial election such as President Umar Musa Yar Adua whose lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said Atiku�s interrogatories inadvertently strengthened his client�s position in the petition.
Ahamba has however revealed that the interrogatories had not removed anything from the position of his client, saying an attempt was only been made to deceive the tribunal into concentrating on just a negligible portion of the entire petition.
Buhari closed his address by saying: �Since the prayers and the reliefs sought in this petition flow directly from the facts of this petition as proved, the honourable court is urged to grant them as the petitioner is lawfully entitled to prayers and all the reliefs sought thereupon.�
Buhari had petitioned the tribunal praying for the nullification of the April 21, 2007 presidential election, which INEC awarded to President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Feb42008