Presidential election: Court grants Atiku permission to serve Buhari

The Court of Appeal has granted Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the PDP in the February presidential election permission to serve President Muhammadu Buhari his petition through substituted means.

Counsel to Abubakar and the PDP Mr Chris Uche, (SAN) while moving the ex parte motion on Wednesday, asked the appellate court to grant the application on the grounds personal service on the president had become practically impossible.

Uche predicated his application on seven grounds with a 17 paragraph affidavit as well as a further affidavit of five paragraphs.

The three-man panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki ruled that it was in the interest of justice to grant the ex parte application.

“After carefully reading the affidavit and the grounds upon which the ex parte application is predicated, the court is convinced that it is in the interest of justice that the request of the two petitioners be granted.

”Consequently the court orders that Buhari, being the second respondent in the petition, be served with the petition through any of the senior officials of the All Progressives Congress at its Abuja national Secretariat.”

The petition and other processes are to be served on the president through No. 40 Blantyre Street, Wuse II Abuja, being the national Secretariat of the APC.

Abubakar is challenging the election of Buhari as president in the Feb. 23 presidential election.

He filed a petition on March 18 before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal challenging the declaration of Buhari as the winner of the presidential election.

He asked the tribunal to declare him as the winner of the presidential election having scored majority of the lawful votes cast.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the petition on the grounds that main respondent, Buhari has not been formally served with the petition as required by law.