The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja is preparing to announce its decision on three petitions seeking to nullify President Bola Tinubu's election victory. The five-member panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, has called on all parties to appear before the court tomorrow to present their final arguments.
The petitions were filed by former Vice President and People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Atiku, as well as the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Mr. Peter Obi. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) previously declared Tinubu, representing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the February 25 election, with 8,794,726 votes. Atiku came in second with 6,984,520 votes, while Obi secured 6,101,533 votes.
Dissatisfied with the election results, both Atiku and Obi approached the court, claiming they were the true winners and challenging Tinubu's eligibility to contest the election. They are seeking the court to either declare Tinubu's victory invalid due to alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act or order a fresh election without Tinubu's participation.
During the hearings, Atiku presented 27 witnesses and Obi presented 13 witnesses, while INEC and President Tinubu presented one witness each. The APC did not produce any witnesses.
All respondents, including INEC and President Tinubu, argued that the petitions lacked merit and failed to meet the burden of proof required by the law. Atiku's legal team raised questions about Tinubu's qualifications and inconsistencies in his personal information, including allegations of holding dual citizenship.
Obi and LP contested Tinubu's eligibility, stating that his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, was still a nominated candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial election when he became the Vice Presidential candidate.
Although initially five petitions were filed to challenge Tinubu's election, two were withdrawn by the Action Alliance (AA) and the Action Peoples Party (APP), leaving three active petitions, including the one filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
The court is expected to deliver its judgement in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates it to issue a written judgement within 180 days from the date the result was declared by INEC.
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