Breaking News: Court affirms Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s President
The Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, has delivered a significant verdict affirming Bola Tinubu as the duly elected President of Nigeria.
A unanimous decision by a five-man panel ruled that the petitioners, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), failed to provide substantial evidence to support their petitions against President Bola Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“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,” Justice Haruna Tsammani, leader of the five-man panel, said.
INEC initially declared Bola Tinubu the winner of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023.
However, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 6.98 million and 6.10 million votes, respectively, approached the court seeking nullification of the election results, citing election irregularities while questioning the legitimacy of the candidacy of Bola Tinubu.
Before the final verdict, delivered around 9.15 pm on Wednesday evening, the court had earlier struck out Peter Obi and Atiku’s petitions, bordering on election irregularities, double nomination, certificate forgery, Tinubu’s dual citizenship, and securing 25% of the total votes cast as a compulsory requirement for the declaration of a Nigerian President.
In today’s ruling, which is expected to be challenged in the Supreme Court by the Petitioners (Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar), the Tribunal emphasized that the FCT, Abuja, should not be accorded any special privileges beyond what the constitution prescribes for all states in the federation.
Also, on alleged irregularities, the court ruled that “in the instant petition, there was no effort to prove specific allegations and particulars of complaints,” as claimed by Peter Obi and his legal team.
While mixed reactions have trailed the ruling, with supporters of opposition parties questioning the integrity of the judiciary, it is expected that Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar will challenge the verdict of the presidential tribunal at the Supreme Court.
