The All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari have filed a cross-appeal against the evidence of data analysts who testified for the petitioners at the Presidential election Petition tribunal, on the existence of a server used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to compile results of the February 23 Presidential election. The cross-appellants are asking the Supreme Court to expunge the testimonies of the experts for being inadmissible in law, as well as the appellants’ allegations of electoral fraud in ten States for being vague. On Tuesday, 24th September 2019, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate in the election, Atiku Abubakar filed a 66-ground appeal, challenging the decision of the Presidential election Petition tribunal, which upheld the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the election, just before the expiration of the 14-day timeframe to appeal the decision.
In the judgment of the tribunal delivered on Wednesday, 11th September 2019, the 3-man panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba dismissed the petition in its entirety, stating that the petitioners failed to prove the grounds of their petition. The appellants had challenged the election on the basis that President Buhari was not qualified to contest the election and that the election was characterised by malpractices such as over voting, stuffing of ballot boxes, acts of violence, etc. The tribunal had held that President Buhari was “eminently qualified” to contest the election and that the petitioners did not prove allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act against President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the election. On the issue of President Buhari not being duly elected by the majority of lawful votes, the tribunal held that the witnesses called by the petitioners could not prove the existence of a server belonging to INEC, which they relied on to prove the number of votes cast at the election.