The APM, LP, and PDP petitioned the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal Court (PEPT) to overturn President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 General Elections.
The five-member panel, under the direction of Hon. Justice Haruna S. Tsammani, unanimously decided to uphold Tinubu’s declaration as president and declared the petition by the petitioners to be without merit.
The court thus affirmed Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and parties are to bear their costs, Chronicle NG reports.
1. APM petition
The petition by APM was adjudged lacking in merit as it has no locus standi as it was a pre-election matter.
2. Party candidate nomination
PEPT held that the person who can challenge the nomination of a party’s candidate must be an aspirant and not anyone else who did not participate in the nomination.
The allegations made in LP’s petition are generic, stating that in the instant petition, there was no effort to prove specific allegations or particulars of complaints.
3. The issue of 25% for the FCT
Equality of the right to life is the same as equality of the vote. Stating that the FCT shares the same value as other states, which makes it part of the 36 states in the country, the court said
4. INEC election results on IREV
LP and its candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, were unable to prove that INEC deliberately refused to upload the results on IREV, PEPT adjudged.
5. Tinubu’s Eligibility
The petitioners failed to substantiate their evidence that Tinubu is not qualified to run for election for merely being fined the sum of $460,000 in the USA, the tribunal said.
6. INEC can conduct elections at will
INEC has the right to conduct elections in any manner it deems fit and cannot be compelled to electronically transmit results, PEPT adjudged.
