HDP faction disowns petition against Buhari at tribunal

By Andrew Orolua, Abuja.

Drama erupted on Tuesday at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, when a faction of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) disowned the petition filed by its presidential candidate, Ambrose Albert Owuru, against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The party at the resumed hearing of the petitions against Buhari announced that its presidential candidate was never authorized or mandated to file any petition against the February 23 presidential election.

Factional Chairman of the party, Chief Poland Awini Tapre, who brought a motion to disown the petition of the presidential candidate, prayed the tribunal to strike out the name of the party from the petition.

Tapre, in the motion argued by his counsel, Anthony Agbonlahan, pleaded with the tribunal headed by Justice Mohammed Garba to remove the party’s name from the petition because the HDP has no intention of challenging the outcome of the presidential poll.

In the motion, which has three exhibits, Owuru was said not to have consulted with the party leadership before using the name of the party as second petitioner against the election of Buhari.

However, the presidential candidate, Owuru, vehemently opposed the attempt to scuttle his petition with a counter affidavit of six paragraphs deposed to by Auwal Abdullahi, who claimed to be national financial secretary of the party.

He further averred that the bid to remove the party’s name from his petition is a “gang up” against his petition and urged the tribunal to ignore the purported factional chairman.

Owuru’s counsel, Chukwunonyerem Njokwu, in the counter affidavit described the factional chairman as an impostor who is not known to the party in any capacity.

The counsel alleged that the factional chairman was a sponsored agent sent to the tribunal to frustrate the speedy hearing of the petition of his client against Buhari.

Njoku therefore, pleaded with the tribunal to award a punitive cost of N100 million against the factional chairman for acting as busy body and meddlesome interloper in the petition.

Counsel to Buhari, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Yunus Usman (SAN) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the All Progressive Congress (APC) supported the factional chairman of the party’s bid to remove the party’s name so as to weaken the petition of the presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, the tribunal chairman, Justice Mohammed Garba, has reserved ruling on the issue whether the tribunal will allow the name of the party to be removed or not from the petition.

In a ruling on another motion, the tribunal permitted the HDP presidential candidate, Chief Owuru to amend clerical errors in his petition, but refused the request to call additional witnesses to testify against Buhari.

Justice Garba ruled that the 21 days allowed by law to file petition, to list witnesses and their statements on oath has lapsed, hence, additional witnesses cannot be allowed.