Here are some interesting points addressed and resolved today, September 6, at the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT)

11:05 am
Court Strikes Out APM’s Suit Against Shettima, Tinubu.

11:26 am
The Presidential Election Petitions Court went on a 15-minute break.

11:47 am
The Court reconvened to take the Judgement of the Labour Party. The judgement is read by Justice Abba Mohammed. He read the preambles reliefs and prayers sought.

11:50 am
A member of the panel of justices, Abba Mohammed, read the ruling on the preliminary objections filed by the respondents against Peter Obi’s petition.

12:07 p.m
LP’s Widespread Irregularities Claim Generic – Court:
While highlighting a claim by the respondents that Obi’s petition only alleged that there were widespread irregularities without giving the particulars and the polling units.
Justice Abba Mohammed holds that In a presidential election held in 176,866 polling units in 774 Local Government Areas, it would be improper not to specify where there were irregularities.
According to him, the petitioners only made generic allegations.
“Pleading must set out material facts and particulars. In the instant petition, there was no effort to prove specific allegations, particulars of complaints,” said the Tribunal.
The law is clear that where someone alleges irregularities in a particular polling unit, such person must prove the particular irregularities in that polling unit before that petition can succeed, the Tribunal added.
The court said the petitioners did not prove the particular polling unit where the election did not take place nor did they specify particulars of polling units where there are alleged complainants of irregularities.
“It was only in one instance that figures were given of alleged suppressed votes and we all know that elections are about figures,” it said.
“LP alleged that INEC reduced their scores and added it to APC votes but failed to supply particulars of what they actually scored before the said reductions, neither did they supply the polling units where it happened….”

12:31 pm
Tribunal Declares APC’s Petition On Obi’s Membership Incompetent
The Court also declared APC’s petition challenging Obi’s membership of the LP as incompetent. Justice Abba said that membership in a political party is an internal affair.
The Tribunal also touched on the issue of non-joinder of Atiku Abubakar who came second and wondered how Obi & LP’s petition could be effectively determined without joining the candidate who placed second in the polls.

1:28 pm
The court rejected the reports of forensic analyses tendered by LP’s three witnesses. According to the court, they are either made during the pendency of the case or by an interested party.
This was as it rejected the European Union report on the polls, arguing that it was not tendered by an official of the body.

02:12 pm
Tribunal dismisses LP/Obi’s Petition on 25 per cent needed in the FCT to win the presidential election.
According to the court, FCT residents have no special privileges as the petitioners claimed.

02: 26
Obi, LP Failed To Prove Tinubu Was Convicted In US, Tribunal Rules.
The Court ruled that the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, failed to prove that President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was convicted for money laundering in the United States.
The five-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani ruled that no record of criminal arrest or conviction was established against Tinubu by the petitioners – Obi and the LP.

02: 41 pm
INEC At Liberty To Define Mode Of Transmitting Election Results –
On the issue of substantial non-compliance with the provisions of the law, especially with regard to non-transmission of result sheets to INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), the court held that there is no law that says INEC must transfer or transmit the results of the election from the polling units electronically.
The law simply empowers INEC to decide the means of collation of results of elections, the court argued.

3:08 pm
The court added that the only device that must be used by INEC for elections is the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and noted that there’s no regulation showing BVAS must be used to electronically transmit results from polling units.

3:12 pm
According to the PEPC, INEC regulations and the Electoral Act give room for manual collation of results. It said electronic transmission is optional at best.
Summary of the judgement so far:
1. Interested parties testimonies are not admissible.
2. Tinunbu’s qualification not in doubt.
3. His right of ingress and egress into the United States of America is suggestive of the fact that no criminal record is against him.
4. Shetima’s nomination settled as party’s internal matter.
5. LP couldn’t prove malpractices as alleged
6. LP didn’t show with how much vote it won the election.
7. Inability of INEC to transmit election in real time, does not depart from substantial compliance
8. Obi’s nomination by LP is an internal party issue
9. Abuja does not enjoy special status to other states so no 2/3 votes required for a candidate to win compulsorily in Abuja
10. Shettima alleged double nomination lack merit. Nomination is an internal party affairs.

The Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal has nullified the victory of Abubakar Ohere of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Senator representing the Kogi Central senatorial election and declared Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the actual winner of the February senatorial election.
The Tribunal Chairman, Justice K. A. Orjiako, who read the unanimous judgement of the three-man panel, said that Ohere results were inflated in nine polling units of Ajaokuta Local Government Area (LGA) while that of Natasha was intentionally reduced in the areas by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as well as three other polling units result that was deliberately not entered for Natasha in the same LGA.
The tribunal, after making the proper correction, declared Natasha as the winner of the poll, having polled 54,074 against Ohere (APC) who polled 51,291.

The Presidential Petition Election Tribunal has ruled that the Allied Peoples Movement (APM’s) petition challenging qualification of Vice President Kashim Shettima of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was a pre-election matter.
Justice Haruna Tsammani, who led a five-member panel gave the ruling today, September 6 in Abuja.
Recall that the APM challenged the qualification of the Vice president, Kashim Shettima among others.
Reading his verdict, Justice Tsammani said that the matter ought to have been challenged before the conduct of the presidential election.
“The issue of qualification or disqualification is a constitutional one. The issue of disqualification or qualification is a pre-election matter.
“It must be determined before the conduct of the election. This court has no jurisdiction to hear the matter and even if it does, it is status-barred because it is a pre-election matter.”
Justice Tsammani said that the judgements would be delivered separately on the petition.
“We will deliver judgements on the petitions separately. The petition, number four will be treated first.”

Minister of Interior, Honourable Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, has bemoaned the overcrowding of correctional centres with over 80,000 inmates in the country.
He said that more than eighty percent of the inmates are awaiting trial.
Speaking in a live Television Continental interview, ‘Journalists Hangout,’ the minister said that his ministry is seriously working to broaden the scope of non custodial centres in the country as done in other countries world wide.
He said that to achieve this, his ministry will enlist the partnership of the Ministry of Justice and other agencies and also work on the Amendment of the Correctional Services Act to broaden the scope of Custodial and non custodial correctional system in the country.
He is not comfortable with the long process in the issuance and reissuance of passports in the country, adding that rather than opening more offices, his ministry will deploy more efficient technology to increase the efficiency in the processing of passports in all it’s offices.
He said that the ministry will engage it’s service providers to improve on their service delivery process for more efficiency.
He said that efforts are on to start the production of passport booklet to reduce the foreign exchange being spent on printing outside the country.
The minister said that the problem in the issuance of passport to Nigerians in the Diaspora is a function of the prevailing system in the country and that efforts are being made to reorientate immigration officers on the need to project the image of Nigeria well, as they are the gateway and first point of contact to outsiders, especially to encourage foreign direct investors.
“Things cannot continue the way they are and we are making efforts to show officers not ready to comply with the change in work attitude the way out while hardworking ones will be rewarded.”
On the synchronisation of the data base of all the government agencies, he said that with the inclusion of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), among the agencies in the interior ministry efforts are being made to harmonize the data base of all relevant institutions to reduce hardship.
”We are making efforts to harmonize the data base among all institutions like banks in the country.”
He also promised to better equip the Nigeria Civil Defence Service (NSDC) to ensure efficiency in the protection of oil pipelines towards reducing theft in the system and boost the nations foreign exchange.
Tunji -Ojo commended the efforts of the Federal Fire Service in the country and promised that more fire fighting vehicles and equipment will be procured for more efficient and effective service delivery.