The Presidential Election Petitions Court has held that the Labour Pary (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, failed to specify how they scored the majority of lawful votes in the February 25 presidential election.
In the lead judgment read by Justice Abba Bello Mohammed, said the political party made generic allegations of irregularities, suppression of votes and corrupt practices to rob them of their votes, especially in Rivers, Benue, Lagos, Taraba, Imo and Osun states but failed to specify the polling units affected.
Justice Mohammed further held that LP also failed to prove the allegations of overvoting against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their actual reduced votes.
In his petition through lead counsel, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), Obi contended that the non-upload of results of the election from the BVAS machines to IREV resulted in blurred results from INEC with 18,088 polling unit results and votes cast by 2.55 million voters; he submitted that he was the only candidate with the majority of lawful votes cast and the 25 per cent required in the FCT under Section 134(2) of the Nigerian Constitution.
In another news, The Allied Peoples Movement (APM)’s petition challenging double nomination of vice-President, Kashim Shettima has just been struck out by the Presidential Election Tribunal in Abuja.
Justice Haruna Tsammani, chairman of the panel, read out the ruling.
The tribunal held that the issue of double nomination of any candidate was a pre-election matter.
According to Tsammani, the APM lacks the locus standi to challenge the nomination of the candidates of another political party.
Peter Obi and the Labour Party had also challenged the same double nomination of Shettima.
It had earlier reported that ahead of the final judgement of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) on the petitions filed against the electoral victory of Tinubu slated for this Wednesday morning, a mammoth crowd of litigants, lawyers and other interested parties have arrived the court.
Already seated in the courtroom were Vice President Kashim Shettima; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; All Progressive Congress, APC, Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje; Governors Hope Uzodinma and Yahaya Bello of Imo and Kogi States, respectively, among others from the ruling party.
From the opposition side were the acting national chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagun, and the LP national chairman, Julius Abure.
Recall that former Vice President and candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), among others, had filed petitions challenging Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election.
SaharaReporters reports that Tinubu contested the election on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) while Shettima was his running mate.
After months of legal fireworks, the Tribunal had fixed judgement on the petitions for this Wednesday.
The PEPT is sitting at the premises of the Court of Appeal headquarters in Abuja.
Security operatives were having hectic time vetting people, including journalists, who had trooped to the venue of the Tribunal to catch a glimpse of events on the judgement day.
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