PRESIDENTIAL TRIBUNAL: INEC, TINUBU, ATIKU, AND OBI TO ADOPT FINAL WRITTEN ADDEESSES ON TUESDAY
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The Presidential Victory Petition Court, sitting in Abuja, is preparing to rule on three petitions attempting to overturn President Bola Tinubu’s victory.
As a preliminary to setting the judgment date, the five-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani has directed the parties to appear before it tomorrow to adopt their last briefs of argument.
In a notice sent to the parties, the court invited them to adopt their written addresses in relation to the petition filed against President Tinubu by the former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as well as the petition filed by Mr. Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party, LP.
It will be remembered that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, announced on March 1 that Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, had won the presidential election held on February 25, beating out 17 other contestants.
It was determined that Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes, defeating his two major rivals, Alhaji Atiku of the PDP, who received 6,984,520 votes, and Mr. Obi of the LP, who received 6,101,533 votes.
However, dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, both Atiku and Obi petitioned the court to declare it null and void.
In separate petitions, the couple claimed victory in the presidential election while questioning Tinubu’s ability to run. Aside from asking the court to declare that President Tinubu did not receive the majority of legitimate votes cast in the election, the petitioners also want INEC to remove the Certificate of Return that was granted to him.
Alternatively, they are asking the court to order a new presidential election, with President Tinubu barred from running because he was not qualified from the start.
According to Vanguard, the Electoral Act 2022 requires candidates who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the election to file a petition before the court within 21 days of the result being proclaimed by INEC, and the court must deliver its decision in writing within 180 days.
On July 5, the court finished its hearings on both Atiku’s and Obi’s petitions.
While Obi’s case was ended after 13 witnesses testified and various documented documents were tendered, Atiku produced 27 witnesses and similarly tendered exhibits before the court. INEC and President Tinubu, for their parts, concluded their defenses in both cases with one witness apiece, while the APC failed to appear in court.
However, in their respective written addresses, all of the Respondents requested that the court dismiss all of the petitions for lack of merit. They said that the petitioners were unable to meet the burden of proof imposed by the legislation. According to the Respondents, while the petitioners made claims with elements of criminality, they failed to establish them beyond a reasonable doubt, as required by law.
President Tinubu sought the court’s ruling that he was duly returned as the election’s winner by INEC.
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