The Supreme Court of Nigeria, in dismissing all the grounds presented by both the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and that of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi to disqualify President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has made none sense of one of the Atiku’s submission.
During the ruling today , October 26, one of the seven judges, Justice Okoro declared: “It runs foul of the Electoral Act 2022 which says that `after the expiration of the time for presenting election petition, no amendment shall be made’”.
The judge also held that the appellants (Atiku and PDP) “were tardy and not diligent enough” to obtain the records from CSU considering that they had one year since President Bola Tinubu submitted his nomination form to INEC.
The Supreme Court finally affirmed the election of Tinubu as the duly elected President of Nigeria at the February 25, 2023 presidential election in the country.
The seven-member panel of the Court, led by Justice John Okoro, in a unanimous judgment, dismissed the appeals of the Atiku and Peter Obi as lacking merit.
The apex court rejected the application of Atiku to file fresh evidence in his case against Tinubu over the Chicago State University (CSU) certificate.
The Court upheld the decision of the tribunal on the 25 percent vote cast in the Federal Capital Territory, striking out offensive paragraphs of a witness statement after examining the credibility of witnesses called during the hearing the Tribunal.
The duo of Atiku and Obi, in their separate prayers to the apex court, had challenged the verdict of the Presidential Election Petitions Court, sitting in Abuja, which affirmed Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential poll.
The five-man panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani not only dismissed the consolidated petitions of the PDP, the APM, and the LP, but also clearly affirmed the victory of Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, in the poll.
Justice Tsammani said: “This petition accordingly lacks merit. I affirm the return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The parties are to bear their cost.”
