Nigeria: Election Tribunal says Labour Party’s petition lacked merit

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Wednesday has said the petition against the declaration of Bola Tinubu as the winner of the Nigeria’s presidential polls by Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi lacked merit.
Ruling on some of the claims of the petitioners which included the nullification of the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election for failing to score 25 per cent in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Abuja, Tinubu’s incompetence to contest the election following his forfeiture case in the United States of America, the failure of INEC to transmit results to the Irev, among others, the five-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, struck out the issues on the petitions.
Reading the judgment, Justice Tsammani described the 25 per cent requirement in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja (FCT) as fallacious and incredibly ridiculous.
“The argument of LP lawyer that the 2nd respondent ought not to have been declared winner because he did not score 25 per cent in the FCT is fallacious and incredibly ridiculous,” he said.
Ruling on the electoral body’s discretion in election result transmission, the Tribunal affirmed the Independent National Electoral Commission’s discretion to determine the mode of election result transmission for the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, saying that Sections 52 and 65 of the Electoral Act 2022, granted INEC the freedom to prescribe the method of transmitting election results during the poll.
The Tribunal also dismissed the petition which sought to annul the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) based on the alleged “failure” of INEC’s Results Viewing Portal to electronically upload election results in real-time.
On the petition alleging irregularities in the February 25 election, the Tribunal dismissed it, saying that the petitioners made generic allegations of irregularities against the respondent without specifying the polling units
“The petitioners allege irregularities and will use spreadsheets, inspection reports, and forensic analysis as evidence in the trial.
“The documents promised by the petitioners were not attached to the petition and served on the respondents,” the Tribunal said, adding that the petitioner did not adequately detail their allegations of corrupt practices, vote suppression, fictitious results, and other irregularities in their petition.
On the issue of Tinubu’s conviction in U.S, the Tribunal said that the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, failed to prove that President Tinubu was convicted of drug-related charges in the United States of America and ruled that no record of criminal arrest or conviction was established against Tinubu by the petitioners.
The Tribunal clarified that the fine imposed on Tinubu by a United States court was over a civil forfeiture proceeding.
The Tribunal also dismissed the petition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the eligibility of Peter Obi to contest the 2023 presidential election, saying that the membership in a political party was an internal affair of the party.
Earlier, the five-member panel had dismissed the petition of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the qualification of Vice President Kashim Shettima as President Bola Tinubu’s running mate.
The petitioner had argued that Shettima’s nomination breached Section 35 of the Electoral Act 2022 and other constitutional provisions.
The tribunal, however, held that the petitioner, APM ought to have filed the case (of double nomination) before the Federal High Court within 14 days from the day the cause of action arose.
The tribunal agreed with the respondent, that the issue is statue barred.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party (LP) has rejected the judgments of the Presidential Election Petitions Court in the party’s petitions challenging the electoral victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25, 2023 poll.
In a statement after the verdict of the Tribunal on Wednesday, the LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said that justice was not served in the petitions of the party against the APC and Tinubu.
The statement stated that the Labour Party will make its next move known upon consultation with its lawyers after receiving the Certified True Copy of the judgments.
The party said the judgment of the court “did not reflect the law and the desire of the people”.
“Nigerians were witnesses to the electoral robbery that took place on February 25, 2023, which was globally condemned but the Tribunal in its wisdom refused to accept the obvious,” the statement added.
However, the petitioners have the option of appealing the judgment in the country’s Supreme Court.
GIK/APA