Nigeria’s presidential election petition tribunal (PEPT), on Wednesday, rejected petitions by opposition parties seeking to overturn President Bola Tinubu’s election in February.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a lesser-known political party Allied Peoples Movement (APM) asked the court to invalidate the presidential election, alleging irregularities.
But the five-member panel of judges unanimously picked holes in all three petitions and upheld Tinubu’s victory.
“Having found the three petitions to be devoid of merit, the petitions are hereby dismissed,” Justice Haruna Tsammani, the chairperson of the panel ruled, “I affirm the return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
As expected, President Bola Tinubu’s supporters are agog with excitement at the verdict of the tribunal which reaffirmed Tinubu’s election while the opposition camp, deprived of the crushing victory it was confidently expecting, is crying foul.
The major opposition parties challenging President Tinubu’s election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) have rejected Wednesday’s ruling.
Obiora Ifoh, LP’s national publicity secretary, said that the party’s decision is premised on the fact that “justice was not served and it did not reflect the law and the desire of the people.”
In a similar vein, Debo Ologunagba, a spokesperson of the PDP, said that the judgement is “against reason, against the facts and evidence presented in court, against the relevant electoral laws, guidelines and regulations as well as the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
The presidential candidates of the PDP and LP, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively have also come out to express their consternation at the judgement that favoured Tinubu.
In a separate briefing with the press on Thursday, Abubakar and Obi disclosed their intentions to take the matter to the Supreme Court in the hopes of a favourable outcome.
Several APC stalwarts, however, said they were satisfied with the way things turned out. In his remarks, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, said “The judgment attests to the fact that the rule of law would always reign supreme and our hard-earned democracy would further continue to blossom beyond limits.”
President Tinubu, who is away in India for the G20 summit, where he hopes to drum up foreign investment, has called on Abubakar and Obi to support his administration “for our government to improve the livelihood of all Nigerians.”
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