Business a.m
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate,Atiku Abubakar, who was seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election.
In his notice of appeal, Atiku had asked the Supreme Court to set aside the September 6 decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which upheld President Tinubu’s victory. The apex court, however, dismissed the appeal, affirming the decision of the PEPC.
The Supreme Court panel, headed by Justice John Okoro, found that the failure to transmit election results electronically did not affect the outcome of the election and could not warrant the annulment of the presidential election. The court also noted that the petitioner had not provided any evidence that the non-transmission of results electronically affected the outcome of the election.
According to the panel, Atiku did not provide alternative results from the presidential election that would have shown he won the majority of votes cast, which would have contradicted the one announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The apex court ruled in favor of President Tinubu on all seven issues that had been raised, stating that the appeal was lacking in merit.
Justice Inyang Okoro stated that since all of the issues had been ruled against the appellant, the appeal was without merit and was therefore dismissed. The Supreme Court’s decision brings to a conclusion the legal battle surrounding the February 25, presidential election.
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, rejected all of Atiku and the PDP’s grounds of appeal, including those regarding qualifications, non-compliance with the Electoral Act, the 25 per cent votes requirement in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and electoral malpractices.
In response to Obi’s appeal, which lasted for about five minutes, the court concluded that the matter had already been addressed in its ruling on May 26 and could not be revisited. On the question of Shettima’s double nomination, which was not raised by Atiku, the court held that it could not allow the matter to be relitigated in the same court.
Justice Okoro added that “there must be an end to litigation.” In other words, the court dismissed Obi’s appeal, ruling that the matter had already been decided and could not be reconsidered.
