Presidential Election Petition Court Reserves Judgment in Obi, LP's Challenge against Tinubu's Victory

Peter Obi

The Presidential Election Petition Court has decided to withhold its judgment on the petition filed by Mr. Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) contesting President Bola Tinubu's election into power. The petition marked CA/PEPC/03/2023 challenges the legitimacy of President Tinubu's victory.

The respondents in the case include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

During the court proceedings, Justice Haruna Tsammani, presiding over a five-member panel, reserved the judgment to a later date, which will be communicated to all parties after they adopt their final written addresses.

On July 5, following the closing of the respondents' cases, parties were given time to submit their written addresses. On July 14, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, the lead counsel for INEC, urged the court to uphold their objections, dismissing the petition as lacking in merit.

During the arguments, the use of technology, specifically the Bimodal Voters Accredited (BVAs) and IreV portal, was a focal point. The respondents argued that technology was employed in the election, but the petitioners misunderstood its application. They failed to provide evidence supporting their claim of electronic collation of election results.

Wole Olanipekun, SAN, the counsel for Tinubu and Shettima, echoed similar sentiments, urging the court to dismiss the petition for lacking merit. He highlighted areas of non-compliance and the lack of electronic uploading of results to IreV. Additionally, he argued that the petitioner, Obi, lacked the locus standi for a rerun election as he was not the first runner-up.

Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, representing APC, aligned with the submissions of the other respondents, describing the petition as ambitious. He emphasized that the petitioners did not dispute the occurrence of voting and the announcement of results.

In response, Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, the counsel for the petitioners, defended the significance of IreV, which was discussed during the witness testimony. He stressed the importance of credible election records and raised concerns about the authenticity of certain Certified True Copies (CTCs) provided by INEC.

Uzoukwu argued that the petitioners had successfully proven their case, especially regarding allegations of non-compliance. The court will now carefully consider the arguments presented before delivering its judgment.