- Court reserves verdict in PDP’s case against President-elect
- Don’t disappoint Nigerians, group urges Judiciary
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment till a later date on an appeal filed by the People’s Democratic Party against the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and his Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima.
The PDP in an appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/108/2023, is seeking the reversal of the January 13 judgment delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Earlier, the party had in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1734/2022 sought to void the nomination of Tinubu and Shettima as the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress.
However, Justice Ekwo dismissed the suit on the grounds that PDP lacked the legal right to meddle in how the APC chooses its candidates.
The party challenged the validity of the APC candidate’s ticket for the 2023 presidential election claiming that Shettima had double nominations, and argued that Shettima’s nomination as a vice-presidential candidate as well as the candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial seat contravenes the law.
The party referenced that Shettima’s nomination as the running mate was in breach of the provisions of Sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84{1)}(2)} of the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended).
However, after lawyers to parties adopted their briefs and made final submissions, Justice Haruna Tsammani-led’s panel of the court of appeal reserved judgment in the matter.
Counsel for PDP urged the court to allow the appeal and grant the reliefs sought while lawyers to the APC, Tinubu and for Shettima, Thomas Ojo, prayed the court to dismiss the appeal.
Ojo argued that the court could no longer involve its original jurisdiction under Section 15 of the court’s Act to hear the case on merit because the constitutionally prescribed 180 days, within which pre-election cases should be heard, has elapsed.
Tinubu’s victory stands, Presidency replies PDP, LP, others
Meanwhile, the Presidency has said despite alleged irregularities and harsh criticism of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the results of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections still stand until otherwise proven in court.
It also ruled out any possibility of annulling the presidential elections as was done on June 12, 1993; advising aggrieved candidates of the opposition parties to pursue redress in court instead.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, revealed this in a piece chronicling key takeaways from the President’s recently-concluded trip to Doha, Qatar, where he attended the 5th United Nations summit on Least Developed Countries.
According to the Presidency, Buhari remained reticent about INEC’s criticism by “wishful thinkers” because he had long decided not to take any decisions that would undermine the electoral process.
“President Buhari not only muted himself following the cacophony, he picked up international travel: “Bola Tinubu’s election stands. If you are aggrieved, and you have the locus to do so, go to court,”’ the statement read.
The Presidency said in the buildup to Buhari’s trip to Qatar, he was faced with orchestrated attempts to poison public opinion against national institutions, particularly the presidential election and its conduct by the Independent National Electoral Commission, as an institution, against which vile and unsubstantiated allegations were hurled.
According to Shehu, “The clear intent of this was creating an atmosphere of fear, polarising the public and demonizing the administration of the President.
“The wishful thinkers appeared to assume that the June 12, 1993 election crisis, the worst ever since the Civil War, could be recreated.
“Those who sought to do this forgot what the President said at the palace of the Gbong-Gwom Jos, when he went to the city to inaugurate the Tinubu-Shettima campaign: ‘this election will not be annulled; whoever is the winner will be president.”
The presidential spokesman echoed Buhari’s several iterations to world leaders in Qatar about handing over to a new President on May 29, 2023.
Don’t disappoint Nigerians, group urges judiciary
In a related development, the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation has urged the nation’s judiciary not to disappoint Nigerians when handling suits for the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
The group also urged the court to stand with Nigerians, adding that it should do the needful to shed light on what transpired in the election.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, the convener of the group, Kinsman Chikelu, said it was important the judges who will be handling the suits ensure justice prevails.
He said, “As civilised citizens of Nigeria living in the diaspora, we have trust and we are using this opportunity to extend our demand again for the second time to the judiciary that they should not disappoint us and the entire Nigerians. They should say the law the way it is. The judiciary should do the needful and redeem the image of whatsoever transpired.
“We are here to reinforce our stand categorically that the presidential election as witnessed a few days ago, was not free and fair, to the standard that we expected following several briefings by the Independent National Electoral Commission,” the group noted.
Chikelu said he personally witnessed that the devices used for the election were not “doing the transmission of the result to the server from the polling unit. We were all worried and we came back to Abuja the next day as the coalition was going on to say that what we witnessed in the polling unit wasn’t actually what we were briefed before as far as the use of BVAS as the game changer.
“The various briefings we received from INEC was all about how they are organised and how they made all arrangements. But on the day of the election, all of us here witnessed the drama that was contrary to what the briefing was before the day of the election, especially the issue of uploading the results of the presidential votes.
“We are calling on different chapters of Nigerian leadership in the diaspora, the student union in the diaspora, the traders union, professional unions, the Ottawa group in the diaspora. We know our structures and we are using this opportunity to call for calm, let’s not jump the gun, let’s give the judiciary this opportunity to do the needful,” Chikelu added.
