APM opens and closes the case in the petition challenging Tinubu’s election as president

In its appeal contesting the announcement of Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the victor of the February 25 presidential election, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) began and closed its case on Wednesday.

The APC’s Kashim Shettima, the vice presidential candidate, received a second nomination, leading the petitioner to demand that Tinubu’s election be declared invalid.

After a fruitless attempt by President Tinubu and the APC to dismiss the petition, the petitioner called its lone witness, Aisha Abubakar, who provided testimony in support of the petition, at the resumed hearing on Wednesday.

The witness identified and delivered the five witness statements under oath she had been deposed to at the court registry, under the direction of the main attorney for the APM, Gideon Idiagbonya.

The witness, who works as the APM’s assistant welfare officer, also presented her membership card as supporting documentation.

The court also allowed the petitioner’s declaration of results sheet (Form EC8E), Kabiru Masari’s notice of withdrawal as the APC’s vice presidential candidate, and Kashim Shettima’s notice of withdrawal as the APC’s Borno Central senatorial candidate (Form EC11C) as exhibits.

Additionally submitted are Shettima’s letter of voluntary withdrawal from consideration as the APC’s senatorial candidate for Borno Central senatorial district, an affidavit supporting Shettima’s nomination as the party’s vice presidential candidate (Form EC9), an affidavit supporting Ibrahim Kabiru Masari’s nomination as the party’s vice presidential candidate (Form EC9), and an affidavit supporting Shettima’s nomination.

Following a subpoena, INEC produced two documents, Certified True Copies of an online temporary acknowledgement of Kashim Shettima’s profile from Thursday, July 14, 2022, and an online temporary acknowledgement of Lawal Kaka Shehu’s profile from Friday, July 15, 2022, which were offered and admitted as exhibits by the court. These documents were produced by INEC through its Deputy Director, Legal Drafting, Joan Molle Arabs.

The petitioner’s attorney declared the matter closed after INEC, APC, Tinubu, Kashim Shettima, and Kabiru Masari, who are respondents in the petition, finished cross-examining the witness.

The respondents, represented by their counsel, did not present any evidence in support of the petition but instead relied on the Supreme Court’s ruling from May 26, 2023 and a letter notifying INEC that Shettima had withdrawn as the APC’s senatorial candidate for Borno Central senatorial district. The letter was submitted by Dr. Kemi Pinhero, counsel to INEC.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) filed a lawsuit challenging Tinubu’s eligibility to run in the February 25 presidential election on the grounds that his running mate had received two nominations, but the Supreme Court dismissed the claim as being without merit. Lateef Fagbemi, an attorney for the APC, submitted the ruling as evidence.

After the witness’s cross-examination, the petitioner was given 10 days to file and serve its final written address, and the respondents were given seven days to file and serve their final written addresses in the petition. The petitioner had raised objections to the admissibility of the aforementioned judgment, but the court accepted it as evidence.

The court subsequently set July 14, 2023, as the deadline for the parties to the petition to adopt their final written addresses.

As a result of the APM petition, which was the first issue summoned on Wednesday and took place at 10 am, the court was unable to hear the petition filed by former vice president Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) contesting Tinubu’s election.

As a result, the Presidential Election appeal Court (PEPC), a five-judge panel chaired by Justice Haruna Tsammani, postponed further hearings on the appeal filed by Atiku Abubakar and the PDP until July 22.