HEARING on the petition filed by Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, to challenge the election of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election l has been adjourned till May 17.
The five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, adjourned the hearing on Wednesday, May 10, following a request by Obi’s lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu.
Uzoukwu had informed the court of an agreement by lawyers to parties in the petition to file and exchange necessary documents for a smooth hearing of the substantive petition.
The defence lawyers, including Abubakar Mahmoud, Wole Olanipekun, Lateef Fagbemi, who represented the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu and the APC, respectively, confirmed Ozoukwu’s submissions before the court.
INEC had declared Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
According to INEC, Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar had 6,984,520, while the Labour Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, polled 6,101,533.
The PDP and LP candidate rejected the result and approached the Tribunal with separate petitions to challenge Tinubu’s victory.
They alleged that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election and that he failed to secure the majority of lawful votes cast at the poll.
They are also contesting that Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, had a double nomination contrary to the Electoral Act.
The court, which had its inaugural sitting on Monday, May 8, had dismissed the petition filed by the Action Alliance (AA) after it was withdrawn by the party.
The ICIR had also reported earlier that the Action Peoples Party (APP) also withdrew its case at the Tribunal.
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