In a highly anticipated ruling by the five distinguished judges of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged victorious on Wednesday.
This triumph for the APC and its candidate, Bola Tinubu, came at the expense of Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who secured the second and third positions in the February 25 presidential election.
The petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party was dismissed by Justice Abba Bello Mohammed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja for several reasons.
PEPC found that 10 statements from Labour Party witnesses were inadmissible due to concerns about bias. Additionally, unclear polling unit results were excluded from the evidence record.
Furthermore, the court determined that the forfeiture of $460,000 linked to Bola Ahmed Tinubu was a civil matter rather than a criminal one, emphasizing that it was a civil forfeiture without any criminal conviction.
The Labour Party failed to provide evidence of Tinubu’s arraignment, trial, fines, or sentencing for any criminal offense.
The court also ruled against the claim that INEC should be obliged to electronically transmit election results to its results viewing portal, dismissing allegations of substantial non-compliance with electoral act provisions made by Peter Obi and the Labour Party.
The court found these claims unconvincing, lacking substantial evidence, and mere allegations.
Additionally, the court affirmed President Tinubu’s academic qualification to contest for president, dismissing any disqualification based on academic grounds.
It also stated that residents in Abuja were not considered special, and the 25 percent threshold in the FCT was insufficient to declare a winner.
The court emphasized that Peter Obi failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove he actually won the election and dismissed the double nomination case against Shettima as “incompetent.”
Regarding the options available to those contesting the judgment, constitutional lawyer Barrister Rose Okojie from Lagos State cited Section 241 of the Nigerian Constitution. She advised that aggrieved parties should appeal the judgment in a higher court, specifically the Supreme Court, if the tribunal’s ruling does not favor them.
“In this case, if the judgment at the tribunal is not in their favor, what the aggrieved parties should do is appeal to the Supreme Court, which is the upper court,” Barrister Okojie explained.
