Peter Obi, Atiku To Head To Supreme Court For Appeal After Lost At Tribunal

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has delivered a verdict affirming the election of President Bola Tinubu, dashing the hopes of the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party’s Peter Obi. Both Atiku and Obi have expressed their intent to appeal this decision at the Supreme Court.

The tribunal, which began proceedings at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, unanimously ruled that the petitions presented by Atiku and Obi lacked merit and upheld Tinubu’s electoral victory in the February 25 presidential election. The Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Haruna Tsammani, along with other panel members, dismissed the allegations put forward by Atiku and Obi against the election’s legitimacy.

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In his judgment, Justice Tsammani declared, “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.”

The Labour Party’s Legal Adviser, Kehinde Edun, expressed disappointment with the judgment, particularly regarding the rejection of 10 out of 13 witnesses. He questioned the tribunal’s decision, stating it weakened their case.

The next step for the Labour Party will be to appeal to the Supreme Court, where they hope for a different outcome. Edun emphasized the importance of addressing this issue not only for the present but also for the sake of Nigeria’s jurisprudence.

The tribunal also addressed various other points, including the validity of Peter Obi’s nomination and allegations related to electronic transmission of election results. It stressed that the manner of transmitting results is at the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission and not compulsory, as well as dismissing several allegations made by Atiku and Obi.