BREAKING NEWS: Tribunal Rubbishes Peter Obi, LP’s Petition Against Tinubu, Declares Suit ‘Unmeritorious

 


The Presidential Election Petition Court has dismissed the petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) against President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima. The court deemed the petition incompetent, citing several reasons.

The court stated that the petitioners failed to specify the exact polling units and specific locations where electoral malpractices were alleged to have occurred. Justice Abba Mohammed, a member of the tribunal's panel, noted that the petitioners did not provide details about the anomalies and their locations. Additionally, they did not specify instances of overvoting or the winning margin.

The court also noted that the petitioners did not identify the polling units where their votes were allegedly reduced. While the Labour Party and Obi claimed that INEC had decreased their scores and added them to the APC votes, the court pointed out that the petitioners did not provide specific information about their original scores before the alleged reductions or the polling units where these changes occurred.

Furthermore, the court held that the allegations made in the petition needed to be specific and include material facts. The petitioners' claim of overvoting was considered vague and was consequently struck out.

Regarding allegations of irregularities in certain states where votes for APC exceeded the total number of votes, the court ruled that the petitioners failed to prove their claims.

Concerning allegations of corrupt practices, the court clarified that not every instance of non-compliance could be categorized as a corrupt practice. The petitioners also failed to substantiate allegations of massive thumbprinting and thuggery.

The court dismissed the objection raised by President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima regarding Peter Obi's membership in the Labour Party. The court held that only a political party sponsoring a candidate has knowledge of its members.

Additionally, the court rejected ten out of thirteen witnesses presented by the petitioners, citing incompetence and incoherence in their reports and documents.

The court emphasized that once the 21-day window for filing an election petition expires, its content cannot be amended.

Regarding allegations that Tinubu was not legally qualified to contest the election due to a previous conviction, the court found no records of Tinubu's arrest in the US and dismissed the allegations.

The court also ruled that there was no requirement for INEC to electronically transmit election results from polling units.

Lastly, the court declared that Tinubu and Shettima were qualified to contest the February presidential election, dismissing arguments to the contrary.

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