Headlines
Supreme Court upholds Tinubu as President, rejecting Atiku and Obi’s Appeals
The election of Tinubu was upheld by the supreme court on Thursday, concurring with the Tribunal’s earlier decision from September 6, 2023.
President Bola Tinubu’s win in the presidential election conducted on February 25, 2023, was affirmed by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
In its decision, the supreme court denied the petitions filed by Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s nominee for president.
The opposition’s challenges over allegations of fraud, electoral law violations, and Tinubu’s ineligibility to run for president were dismissed by a panel of seven judges as lacking validity.
The top court rejected all of Atiku and the PDP’s appeals based on issues including eligibility, breaking the Electoral Act, the 25% of votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory, and electoral fraud.
Justice Inyang Okoro denied Atiku’s appeal, saying, “On the whole, having resolved all the issues against the appellant, it is my view that there is no merit in the appeal and it is hereby dismissed.”
“This affirms the judgement of the lower court, rendered on September 6, 2023, which upheld Tinubu’s election as the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s legitimate president.”
After that, the appeal by Obi was heard by the supreme court for a short while. Regarding the LP presidential candidate and the matter of Vice President Kashim Shettima’s double nomination, the court determined that it had already been addressed in its May 26 order.
Regarding problem Number 4, which dealt with double nomination and was not included in Atiku’s appeal, the court believes that since it has already addressed the topic, it cannot permit the case to be re-litigated in this same court. Litigation has to stop,” Judge Okoro declared.
We will not repeat the previous practise of having us sit down and discuss when this man resigned or did not quit when they held new primaries to replace him.
“This should not have been brought in. This court rendered its decision while the case was still pending in the trial court. The lower court’s judgement states that the subject has been settled by the Supreme Court, and that should have been the end of it.
It is not appropriate that you are bringing up the double nomination problem now so we can consider it and give another ruling. This appeal is dismissed because it is without merit.
The complaints of Obi and Atiku, which included accusations of fraud, purported INEC infractions, and assertions that Tinubu had not complied with constitutional requirements, were denied by the Presidential Election complaints Court (PEPC) in September. Tinubu’s election had been affirmed by the Tribunal.
In addition to its initial allegations, Atiku’s legal team attempted to present fresh proof, stating that Tinubu provided the electoral commission with a falsified Chicago State University degree as proof of eligibility when he filed to run for president.
The top court, however, rejected Atiku’s request to have his testimony from the American university admitted, stating that the deadline for filing new appeals had passed.
