Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike alongside a PDP chieftain, Newgent Ekamon, has filed a lawsuit against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); its Presidential Candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; his Sokoto state counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal; over the party’s presidential primary, which was held in Abuja on May 28 and May 29, 2022.
The complaint requested the court to rule on eight grounds in the original summons, including whether the PDP’s alleged transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku was invalid and unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs requested that the court decide whether Tambuwal lost his right to vote after he resigned in favour of Atiku.
They also requested the court to rule on whether Tambuwal “deserved to forfeit his votes having stood down during the primaries.”
If these disputes are resolved in their favour, Wike and Ekamon claimed, the court should give nine respites, including a ruling that the supposed transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku is unlawful and that the PDP committed negligence and bad faith by giving Atiku the votes cast by the governor of Sokoto in the primaries.
They prayed 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.”
The applicants further requested that the court rule that the PDP and Atiku abused the situation created by Tambuwal’s withdrawal by allowing the governor of Sokoto to influence delegates to support the former Vice President in the primary.
Wike and Ekamon requested that the court order INEC to strike Atiku’s name off “its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election” or to reject him outright.
At the PDP primaries which took place in Abuja on May 28 and May 29, 2022, Atiku polled 371 votes compared to Wike’s 237 votes.