The Allied Peoples Movement petition, which questioned President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress’ eligibility, was unsuccessfully challenged in the Presidential Election Petition Court.
This came after the Supreme Court recently rendered a decision in a case that was very similar to the one it brought before the PEPC.
On May 30, Tinubu’s attorney Wole Olanipekun, SAN, informed the court of the verdict, saying that it seemed to address the same matter that the APM had brought before the court.
He had cited the Supreme Court’s ruling from last Friday, May 26, which had rejected the Peoples Democratic Party’s request to have the ticket that produced the president and his running mate, Kassim Shettima, annulled due to double nomination.
Olanipekun wanted to know if the APM’s case, which is also contesting the results of the election on the grounds that the elected vice-president, Kassim Shettima, was replaced by Kabir Masari, would not be affected by the Apex Court’s ruling.
Olanikpekun reminded the court of the apex court’s ruling, but APM’s attorney, G.A. Ijiagbonya, said he still intends to pursue the case at Monday’s resumed hearing on the petition.
Ijiagbonya claimed that he had obtained the Supreme Court decision that was intended to be used to dismiss APM’s petition.
He claimed that after reading the Supreme Court’s ruling, he and his legal team are insistent on moving forward with the current petition.
To get a crucial document from the Independent National Electoral Commission, he requested a one-week adjournment.
Following this, Justice Haruna Tsammani, the five-person panel’s chairman, ruled that the party could not be excluded in the face of a fair hearing.
Justice Tsammani requested that Tinubu reserve his objections to the petition hearing for the court’s final address stage.
Similar objections to the petition made by the APC through its attorney Charles Edosomwen, SAN, were rejected by PEPC for the same reason.
Justice Tsammani made a brief decision and set the hearing for the petition to take place on Wednesday, June 21.
Through its legal counsel, the APM declared that it would begin and end the case on the same day.
To support the petition against Tinubu, the party will also call one private witness.
