Wike Drags Atiku, Tambuwal To Court, Demands PDP Presidential Ticket

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party appears not to have an end in sight as a suit has been filed demanding that Rivers state governor Nyesome Wike be declared the party’s presidential candidate.

Wike alongside a chieftain of the party, Newgent Ekamon, dragged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Sokoto state Governor Aminu Tambuwal to court over the conduct of the party’s presidential primary.

Wike had in May lost the party’s presidential ticket to Atiku after Tambuwal stepped down for the former vice-president and asked his supporters to vote for him.

While the former vice-president secured 371 votes to become PDP’s standard bearer, Wike secured 237 votes to come second.

Since the aftermath of the primary, the party has been enmeshed in crisis with the Rivers state governor aligning with allies of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/782/2022, Ekamon and other plaintiffs asked a federal high court in Abuja to determine if the transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku is legal.

They asked the court to declare that the PDP was wrong to assign Tambuwal’s votes to the former vice-president.

The plaintiffs asked the court to direct “the first respondent (PDP) to declare the second applicant (Wike), a presidential aspirant in the May 28 and May 29 primary as the winner of the aforesaid primary with a corresponding order directing the first respondent (PDP) to forward his name as the candidate to contest the presidential election in 2023”.

The applicants also prayed the court to declare that the PDP and Atiku took undue advantage of Tambuwal’s withdrawal when they allowed the Sokoto governor to persuade delegates to vote for the former Vice-President in the primary.

Wike and Ekamon asked the court to order INEC to reject or remove Atiku from “its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election.”

They are also seeking an order commanding the PDP to recount the votes of the primary that was held on May 28 and May 29.

Lastly, the applicants are seeking an order of the court “directing the 1st respondent (PDP) to declare the 2nd applicant (Wike), a presidential aspirant in the May 28 and May 29 primary as the winner of the aforesaid primary with a corresponding order directing the 1st respondent (PDP) to forward his name as the candidate to contest the presidential election in 2023.”

In a supporting affidavit he deposed to, Ekamon noted that he was a member of the PDP and attested to the fact that Wike won the presidential election.

He maintained that Tambuwal withdrew from the contest after voting had commenced and directed that his votes be assigned to Atiku.

“The third respondent (Tambuwal) speaking twice before stepping down from the contest, persuaded all his delegates who were going to vote for him to vote for the 4th respondent (Atiku).

“The 1st (PDP) and 4th (Atiku) respondents who also wanted the votes desperately agreed with the 3rd (Tambuwal) and assigned 3rd (Tambuwal) respodnent’s votes to the 4th (Atiku) respondent and increased his votes to win the 2nd applicant (Wike).

“The 2nd applicant (Wike) won the primaries if the votes of the 3rd respondent (Tambuwal) had not been transferred or assigned to the 4th respondent (Atiku).