Preparations begin as Elections Petitions Tribunal delivers verdicts soon
The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has commenced preparations to deliver its verdict in the three petitions challenging the election of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigerian President.
Petitions have been filed by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Abubakar Atiku, the Labour Party and it’s Presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, and that of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
On June 23, Abubakar closed his case after calling 27 out of the 100 witnesses and tendered electoral documents. Obi called 13 witnesses out of the 50 lined up legal team of President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima also closed defence in the petition filed by Obi after calling one witness.
The legal team of Tinubu had proposed to call 39 witnesses, but closed its defence after its witness in chief, the Senate Majority Leader, Michael Bamidele testified.
Led in evidence by Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, Bamidele told the court that the votes secured by Tinubu in Kano state were not properly recorded and Tinubu had a shortfall of 10,929 votes.
Two petitions, marked CA/PEPC/05/2023 and CA/PEPC/03/2023, were brought before the court.
While adopting their final written address, Atiku and the PDP, through their team of lawyers, led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, urged the court to declare that President Tinubu was not qualified to contest the presidential poll that held on February 25.
They prayed the court to nullify the entire outcome of the presidential election and order a re-run or fresh contest.
Atiku and his party alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, despite receiving over N355 billion for the conduct of the election, deliberately by-passed all the technological innovations it introduced for the purpose of the 2023 general elections.
For the judgment in the petitions that have been lingering for months, a five-man panel of justices headed by the presiding justice, Justice Haruna Tsammani, has been set up to decide the political fate of the country.
The judges presiding over the tribunal are Justice Haruna Tsammani, Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal; Justice Stephen Adah – Court of Appeal (Asaba division); Justice Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, Court of Appeal (Asaba Division); Justice Moses Ugo, Kano division, and Justice Abba Mohammed, Ibadan Court of Appeal.
