Anxiety As Atiku, Peter Obi Begin Battle With Tinubu At Supreme Court

All is now set for the hearing of the appeals filed by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) at the Supreme Court challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25, 2023, Presidential election.

Also, Chichi Ojei of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) filed an appeal at the apex court seeking to nullify the election of President Tinubu, and the hearing of the petitions begins today (Monday), October 23.

Naija News recalls that the apex court had communicated the hearing date through notices sent to all the parties, last Thursday, October 19.

Atiku’s Appeal

Apart from faulting the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which affirmed Tinubu’s election, Atiku also filed for permission to tender a copy of Tinubu’s academic records released by the Chicago State University (CSU).

The PDP candidate claimed that Tinubu submitted a forged CSU certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2023 elections.

The former Vice President is also seeking to get a Washington, D.C. court to order the FBI to release documents on President Tinubu’s $460,000 forfeiture case.

Atiku, through his team of 67 lawyers comprising of 18 Senior Advocates of Nigeria led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, filed 35 grounds of appeal to challenge Tinubu’s victory.

Atiku contended that the verdict of the PEPC was not only “against the weight of evidence”, but occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against him.

He insisted that the PEPC panel erred in law, when it failed to nullify the presidential election on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, of 2022, even when evidence showed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, acted in breach of extant laws and regulations guiding the conduct of elections.

Atiku accused the PEPC of reaching its unanimous decision based on gross misconstruction and misrepresentation of provisions of both the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the Electoral Act, 2022.

Obi’s Appeal

Obi, through his own team of lawyers, led by Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, filed 51 grounds of appeal before the Supreme Court to challenge the victory of Tinubu as the valid winner of the presidential election.

He is also seeking to set aside the judgment of Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel of the PEPC, which had, on September 6, dismissed his petitions against Tinubu.

Obi argued that the PEPC panel erred in law and thereby reached a wrong conclusion when it dismissed his petition.

He alleged that the panel wrongly evaluated the proof of evidence he adduced before it and occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice when it held that he did not specify polling units where irregularities occurred during the election.

He also told the apex court that the panel unjustly dismissed his allegation that INEC uploaded 18, 088 blurred results on its IReV portal.

Ojei’s Appeal

In her appeal, Ojei lodged a 10-ground appeal to invalidate President Tinubu’s election, stating that he was not eligible to participate in the presidential poll.

She and her party said that the PEPC relied on a technicality to dismiss their petition challenging Tinubu’s nomination by the APC.

According to the APM, the PEPC erred in law, when it wrongfully waved aside the allegation that Tinubu’s running mate and Vice President, Kashim Shettima, was nominated twice for different positions by the APC, in relation to the 2023 general elections.

It faulted the verdict of the PEPC, saying it was wrong for the court to dismiss its case against Tinubu’s election on the premise that it was not only incompetent but contained pre-election issues.

APM argued that Sections 131 and 142 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, were inextricably linked “and neither can be confined as a pre-election matter, as these qualifications are condition precedents to being elected to the office of President.”

It contended that being validly elected entailed “being qualified to contest the election,” adding that a valid election includes the threshold of qualifications and disqualification, as stipulated in the Constitution.

The party wants the apex court to declare that the return of Tinubu by INEC as President-elect was null, void, and of no legal effect whatsoever.

The APM is also praying for the Supreme Court to nullify and void all votes scored by APC in the Presidential election, as well as to make an order, directing INEC to return the second-highest score at the election as the winner of the presidential contest.

Tinubu’s Counter Appeal

President Tinubu, APC and INEC have since asked the apex court to dismiss the appeals which they said were bereft of merit.

Tinubu also urged the court to reject an application that Atiku filed for permission to tender a copy of his certificate that was released by the CSU.