The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) to dismiss the petition filed by Atiku Abubakar and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). </p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"> </p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The electoral body made the submission in its final address at the PEPT on Wednesday August 21. INEC’s lawyer, Yunus Usman (SAN) insisted that Atiku's petition was a mere waste of time as he and his party could not substantiate claims of the electoral commission having a server and transmitting results electronically. </p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"> </p>
<blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 14.5px; border-left: 5px solid #eeeeee; color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Usman said: “This is a worthless petition. INEC did not abandon its pleadings. It only extracted salient evidence from their (petitioners) witnesses.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">“It would have been a waste of the court’s time to call witnesses when the petitioners failed to prove anything and admitted the issues we advanced in our pleadings</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;">“We urge the court to dismiss this petition, which was meant to test the water with two legs, and they are now falling.”</p>
</blockquote>

