The Supreme Court has formed a seven-member panel comprising of justices to hear the appeals of three presidential candidates who have challenged the outcome of the February 25 election and the dismissal of their petitions by the tribunal. The candidates are Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Chichi Ojei of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). The hearing notices were served to the candidates and made public on Thursday. The signed notices by Zainab M. Garba in the office of the registrar, said that according to Order 2 Rule 1(2) of the Supreme Court’s Rules 1985 as amended, the notice is considered sufficiently served on the parties.
The panel will comprise of justices Musa Dattijo Muhammad, Uwani Musa Abba Aji, Lawal Garba, Helen M. Ogunwumiju, I.N. Saulawa, Tijjani Abubakar and Emmanuel Agim.
Atiku, in his appeal, maintains that the Presidential Election Petitions Court erred when they dismissed his petition. He alleges that the dismissal was on the grounds that the petitioners failed to prove allegations of irregularities in the presidential election, 25 percent requirement in the FCT, forfeiture and failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit the results from the polling units to the IREV using BVAS as provided in its laws and guidelines.
In the application by his counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), Atiku has requested leave to file academic records of Tinubu, which he has alleged were forged.
Obi, on the other hand, says the tribunal’s refusal of his 18,088 polling units’ blurred results was a miscarriage of justice.
Ojei of the APM, in her petition, is contending that Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima, were disqualified on the grounds of invalid nomination for the offices.
In his replies, Tinubu, through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), requested the court to hold that Atiku’s petition was an abuse of court process and lacked merit. Tinubu has described Obi’s petition as a jamboree and should be dismissed.
The Supreme Court has until November 6, 2023, to give a final judgment on the appeals.