Skip to main content

How Buhari, APC allegedly used TraderMoni to buy votes - Atiku tells presidential election tribunal

- Atiku and his party, PDP, claimed in their petition to presidential election tribunal that Trader Moni is illegal

- The PDP presidential candidate and his party alleged that President Buhari and APC used the scheme to influence voters to vote for them

- Responding, President Buhari, through his lawyer, denied the petitioners’ claim, insisting that TraderMoni was never a vote-buying measure but a social intervention scheme

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and his party, have insisted that the TraderMoni scheme initiated by President Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government is a vote-buying scheme that lacked budgetary backing.

According to Sahara Reporters, Atiku and his party described the initiative as “illegal and corrupt extra-budgetary spending".

Legit.ng gathers that they stated this in their petition filed before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the February 23 election.

READ ALSO: Countries with highest minimum wage in the world in 2019 (see full list)

Atiku and his party want the tribunal to declare them as the true winner of the February 23 presidential election, having alleged manipulations and corruption in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)'s declaration of Buhari and his party, APC, as the winner of the election.

They alleged, among others, in the petition that in a bid to “improperly influence voters,” Buhari, “using his position as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, commenced a programme or a scheme called Trader Moni, through which the Nigerian electorate, most especially traders across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, Abuja, were, a few weeks to the presidential election, given N10,000 each.”

“In spite of the fact that there was no budgetary provision for this scheme; and in spite of public outcry against it, the 2nd respondent (Buhari), through the Vice-President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, went round all the states of Nigeria and the FCT, Abuja, and shared the said sum of N10,000 to traders, thus using state resources to buy votes,” they added.

Responding, President Buhari, through his lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), denied the petitioners’ claim, insisting that Trader Moni was never a vote-buying measure.

He said the policy was one of the many social intervention policies of the government provided for in the national budget to alleviate the suffering of the masses.

However, in their reply to Buhari’s response to the petition, Atiku and the PDP faulted the claim.

They contended that there was no such provision in the Appropriation Act permitting distribution of “scarce public funds” before and during the February 23 presidential election.

The petitioners, through their team of lawyers led by Dr. Livy Uzouwku (SAN), noted that the National Assembly "vehemently protested” against the spending under the Trader Moni policy for not being appropriated for in the Appropriation Act.

They stated: “Contrary to paragraphs 331, 332, 333, 334, 335 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341 and 342 of the 2nd respondent’s (Buhari) reply, the petitioners denied that there was a budgetary provision in any Appropriation Act permitting the distribution of scarce public funds before and during the election of February 23, 2019, to so-called traders under the guise of Trader Moni.

“The petitioners further state that the National Assembly vehemently protested against the spending of un-appropriated funds.”

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Chris Uche (SAN) who is the lead counsel for the Atik and PDP at the presidential election tribunal, and Bauchi state governor-elect, Bala Mohammed at the governorship petition tribunal sitting in Bauchi state expressed optimism of his clients’ victory in court.

The senior lawyer said all the respondents in Atiku’s cases have all filed their responses. Uche added that all processes have been exchanged and very soon, there will be commencement of the pre-hearing session with the actual trial coming after that.

He, however, queried the APC for not addressing some of the issues raised in the petition filed by Atiku.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng



from Legit.ng: Latest Nigeria News Today & Breaking Naija News 24/7 http://bit.ly/2LkrjG3
via EDUPEDIA24/7

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...