he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar have filed a motion to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to produce for inspection materials used for the February 23 presidential election.

The motion ex-parte was filed at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, which has opened at the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday.

In the motion ex-parte dated March 4, 2019, Atiku and the PDP, are seeking leave to inspect the Voters Register, the Smart Card Reader Machines, Ballot Papers and other vital documents that were used in the conduct of the presidential election.

The application signed by Chris Uche (SAN), also prayed the tribunal to compel the electoral body to allow their agents to scan and make photocopies of vital documents used in the conduct of the election, for the purpose of establishing alleged irregularities

He said results collated by agents at various polling units across the federation were at variance with what INEC declared in favour of President Buhari.

Meanwhile, the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, who is expected to preside over the proceedings at the petitions tribunal, has not fixed any date for hearing.

The motion is seen as the first step towards filing a formal petition over the presidential election, Daily Trust reports.