In a landmark decision that has sent shockwaves throughout the nation, the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja has delivered a resounding verdict, dismissing the petition filed by Peter Obi of the Labour Party. This petition challenged the election victory of President Bola Tinubu, marking the conclusion of a highly contentious legal battle that has captivated the nation’ s attention.
According to Leadership , Haruna Tsammani, presiding over a five- member bench, delivered the hours- long judgment on a fateful Wednesday, pronouncing the petition as devoid of merit. The court’ s ruling was a comprehensive one, addressing all three pillars upon which the case against Mr. Obi and his party, the Labour Party, was constructed, ultimately siding with Mr. Tinubu and the other respondents.
Central to the case was the assertion that President Tinubu was not qualified to contest the 25th presidential election. However, Mr. Tsammani’ s verdict emphatically rejected this claim. He asserted that the $460, 000 forfeiture order issued by a US court against Mr. Tinubu in connection with a 1993 drug trafficking case did not constitute a criminal conviction substantial enough to warrant disqualification from the presidency.
Additionally, the petitioners were unable to substantiate their allegations that the election was marred by corrupt practices, including overvoting, suppression of votes, inflation of votes, incorrect computation of votes, and other assorted claims. The court found these assertions unsupported by credible evidence.
One of the most striking moments in the judgment was Mr. Tsammani’ s dismissal of the Labour Party’ s argument that Mr. Tinubu should not be declared the election winner, because he received less than 25 percent of the votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In no uncertain terms, the presiding judge labeled this argument as ” fallacious and incredibly ridiculous. “
Mr. Tsammani, in his concluding remarks, emphasized the importance of considering the directive of state policy and the preamble of the constitution, both of which uphold the principle of the equality of citizens.
SocietyDaily (
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