ABUJA – Six states under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Sokoto – which filed a suit against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court challenging the declaration of All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president-elect, have discontinued the suit.
The Notice of Discontinuance which was signed by their lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome and made available to Sundiata Post, said: “The Supreme Court suit between the 6 states and AG Federation which was filed during the flawed manual collation of results contrary to the clear provisions of the Electoral Act, the INEC Guidelines and Regulations and the manual for INEC officials, has been discontinued due to the fact that the flawed results have already been announced and a President-elect declared, albeit illegally and unconstitutionally. Having been overtaken by events, it will now be a Tribunal matter.
In the earlier suit which had the Attorneys-General of the states as plaintiffs and the Attorney General of the Federation as a defendant, the states had asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the just concluded general elections as they claimed that the declaration of Tinubu did not follow the Electoral Act and INEC’s own laid down guidelines, particularly the uploading of results to the iREV through the Bimodal Accreditation System (BVAS).
They also expressed fear of a probable breakdown of public order and civil disobedience.
Below is the Notice to discontinue the suit: