The Punch newspaper reports that the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT), sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, said the Labour Party and its candidate in the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi, failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and acclaimed winner of the election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was convicted of drug-related charges in the United States of America.
In its ruling, the five-man panel of judges led by Justice Haruna Tsammani declared that the petitioners failed to establish any record of criminal arrest or conviction against Tinubu.
Justice Haruna Tsammani, while delivering judgment on the petition, noted as follows:
“The petitioners failed to show evidence that the president was detained or convicted for any particular offence as alleged by the petitioners.”
He clarified the US court’s fine imposed on Tinubu was over a civil forfeiture proceeding. The court held that the fine did not qualify as a fine for fraud or dishonesty which the Nigerian Constitution provides for in Section 137(1)(d).
Ifyafrica (
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